TRANSPORT

Community Railways (Lancashire)

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the development of community railways in Lancashire.

Tony McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority published a Community Rail Development Strategy in November last year. The Strategy aims to involve local communities in the development of their lines, to increase patronage and to reduce the costs of the lines so that they will be sustainable for the longer term. Under the Strategy, seven lines in Lancashire have been selected for Community Rail designation.

Trunk Roads (Sussex)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on trunk road improvements in Sussex since 1997.

David Jamieson: Since 1997 we have spent £28.9 million on major trunk road improvements, in Sussex. Information on expenditure on smaller trunk road improvements is not available.

Bus Services

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that bus users are properly consulted about changes to the provision of bus services in their area.

Tony McNulty: Regulations require the operator of a local bus service to provide the traffic commissioner and the local authority with at least 56 days notice of any change. We encourage all parties to work together to ensure the interests of passengers and the community are taken into account.

Bus Services

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial support he has made available for improved bus services in (a) Nottinghamshire and (b) England in the last four years.

Tony McNulty: In the period 2000–01 to 2003–04, the Department made available to English local authorities a total of £305 million in bus grants of which £5.43 million was allocated to Nottinghamshire.
	Bus services throughout England will also have benefited from the Department's bus service operators grant and support for local transport capital expenditure.

Tonnage Tax

Robert Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had in respect of the tonnage tax.

David Jamieson: I have had several discussions recently with many of our social partners on this important topic. I am aware of the lobby of Parliament today that has been organised by the RMT union, and I have had the opportunity to meet their representatives in four different forums in the last three months to discuss tonnage tax. This includes my meeting on 22 February with the RMT parliamentary group which my hon. Friend attended.

Road Humps

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to re-issue guidance on the use of road humps.

David Jamieson: Current guidance remains good advice, and local authorities can design schemes that fit local circumstances. The Department aims later this year to publish a local transport note on the design and effectiveness of traffic calming measures including road humps, drawing together existing research and guidance.

Regional Air Services

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on public service obligations for regional air services.

Tony McNulty: The Air Transport White Paper set out the Government's readiness to impose Public Service Obligations (PSOs) in certain limited circumstances in order to guarantee a minimum level of air services from UK regional airports to London.
	Last year DfT consulted with stakeholders to clarify the circumstances in which this policy might be implemented. The consultation closed last November and officials are now analysing all views expressed both in the responses and meetings. Copies of the consultation responses and a short report summarising them have been posted on the DfT website.

A64

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the evaluation study on the economic and environmental impact of dualling the A64 in North Yorkshire.

David Jamieson: I am expecting to receive the full report of the study from the Highways Agency shortly. Once I have carefully considered the conclusions and recommendations I will make a decision on the best way forward.

Berwick upon Tweed Railway Station

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason and upon whose authority the entrance doors to Berwick upon Tweed railway station were closed to the public on Sunday 27 February at a time when the station was supposed to be open to the public and trains were stopping there.

Tony McNulty: The station was locked due to an error on the part of GNER staff, and resulted in a 30 minute delay for passengers wanting to travel on the 0940 departure. GNER arranged for an additional stop to be made by the next train passing through the station. Iunderstand that this was an isolated incident, and that GNER have publicly apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.

Channel Tunnel (Freight Traffic)

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what restrictions there are on the volume of freight traffic using the channel tunnel; what the reasons are for each restriction; and what restrictions are in place at the request of the French Government.

Tony McNulty: There are no restrictions in place on the volume of freight traffic using the channel tunnel.

Dangerous Cargoes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will list the dangerous or harmful cargoes known to have been lost overboard in UK waters since 1 January 1990 which are not thought to have been recovered;
	(2)  if he will list the packages containing dangerous or harmful goods found in UK waters since 1 January 1997, broken down by (a) date, (b) source, (c) nature of the incident giving rise to the deposit of the package in the waters and (d) location;
	(3)  what reporting requirements there are in respect of the loss overboard (a) within UK waters and (b) from UK registered vessels of dangerous or harmful goods.

David Jamieson: holding answer 7 March 2005
	Any vessel involved in a pollution event within UK controlled waters as defined by the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) (Limits) Regulations 1996 must immediately contact Her Majesty's coastguard and report the identity and position of the ship; the port of departure and next port of call; the number of people onboard; the date, time and details of the incident; and a contact point for further information about the cargo.
	UK ships involved in an incident outside UK controlled waters but within Europe must report to the appropriate state responsible for the geographical area.
	Data on reported discharges of dangerous or harmful cargoes (including oil) as defined by the internationally agreed Marine Pollution (MARPOL) Convention is collated by the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS) on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). ACOPS collects data in addition to that reported to the coastguard. The data available is extensive and diverse, and I am placing copies of the annual ACOPS reports from 1990 into the House Library.

Dangerous Cargoes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents there have been since 1 May 1997 of (a) anthrax and (b) other goods of military origin being washed up on UK shores, broken down by (i) date of reporting, (ii) nature and volume of the material and (iii) origin and retrieval points of the material.

David Jamieson: holding answer 7 March 2005
	This information is not available in the form requested other than at disproportionate cost. However, I can confirm that there have been no reported incidents involving anthrax since 1 May 1997. In the same period, there have been 349 reports to Her Majesty's coastguard in relation to goods categorised as suspected ordnance (which might or might not be of military origin) found washed ashore, floating at sea, or discovered by fishermen.

First Great Western Link

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what representations he has received from the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce concerning First Great Western Link's new timetable for the Thames Valley area;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the impact First Great Western Link's new timetable for the Thames Valley area has had on local businesses;
	(3)  what plans he has to (a) reduce overcrowding and (b) improve punctuality on the Henley-Twyford-Paddington line.

Tony McNulty: No representations have been received from the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce. Timetable changes on services to and from London Paddington were consulted on by the Strategic Rail Authority in early 2004. The majority of stakeholders recognised the benefits of the overall package of measures, although there was no specific assessment of the impact of the changes on local businesses. On 31 January First Great Western Link (FGWL) enhanced the 0727 Twyford-London Paddington service by increasing it from a five-carriage train to a 10-carriage Adelante train to reduce crowding. FGWL have also recently seen a slight improvement in overall punctuality. Both the Strategic Rail Authority and FGWL are continuing to monitor the performance of the timetable.

First Great Western Link

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet First Great Western Link, the Strategic Rail Authority and interested hon. Members to discuss timetabling of services in the Thames Valley area.

Tony McNulty: I have already agreed to meet the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Colleague from Maidenhead on 10 March 2005. Further meetings with relevant parties will be arranged as necessary.

Local Transport Plans

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what formula will be used to calculate the financial allocations in the Local Transport Plans 2006–11; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: A formula is used to allocate most of the capital highways maintenance funding between local authorities. This formula considers the size and condition of the road networks and the size of the bridge stock, for which local highway authorities are responsible.
	The Department is also developing a formula to represent local transport pressures, such as road casualties and local public transport patronage, for .possible use in influencing financial allocations for integrated transport block schemes. Subject to the satisfactory completion of development work, the Department proposes to consult with local authorities on this formula later this year.

M1

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the M1 Motorway near junction 18 was closed on 21 February; upon whose authority; whether a heavy goods vehicle was involved; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The southbound carriageway was closed by Northamptonshire police following an incident involving a car and a heavy goods vehicle. The HGV shed its load of heavy concrete blocks and the closure was needed to deal with the build up of traffic and enable the road to be cleared by large, specialised recovery crews, in order to remove the hazard to road users. Traffic was diverted off the motorway at Junction 18.

M42

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the M42 to be free of (a) roadworks and (b) lane closures.

David Jamieson: Work is currently being carried out in connection with two pilot projects on the M42, both of which are designed to improve journey reliability. Between Junctions 3A and 7 the Active Traffic Management scheme, involving the installation of signs, signals and detector loops in the road surface designed to improve information to drivers and improve traffic flow, is on programme to be complete by the end of April 2005. There will be a need for limited lane closures during the summer whilst message signs and CCTV systems are commissioned.
	On the northbound carriageway between Junctions 10 and 11, signs are being installed in connection with a project to prevent HGVs from overtaking on an uphill section of the motorway and causing delays. This work is being carried out at off-peak times and does not involve lane closures and is also due for completion by April.

Manchester Metrolink

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much has been spent in total so far on preparatory work for the Manchester Metrolink extension;
	(2)  how much has been spent on the acquisition of (a) land and (b) buildings in connection with the Manchester Metrolink extension;
	(3)  how much has been spent on demolition costs so far in connection with the Manchester Metrolink extension.

Alistair Darling: The Department has provided some £170 million. Around £80 million was for Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) to buy the concession for the operation of Metrolink. This has continuing value to generate revenue for GMPTE and give them control over the network. The rest has been for advanced works (i.e. utility diversions); around £32 million has been provided for the buying of property (including demolition) and land, some of which may still be required for the package that GMPTE now develop.

Manchester Metrolink

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the projected cost of the Manchester Metrolink extension scheme was (a) when it was first announced and (b) currently.

Alistair Darling: I refer to my written statement to the House of 16 December 2004.

Motorway Accidents (HGVs)

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what percentage of accidents occurring on motorways resulting in a motorway closure a heavy goods vehicle was involved in each of the last five years; and if he will make it his policy to collect and publish such figures annually.

David Jamieson: Based on the major incidents reported to the Highways Agency over the last 12 months that resulted in a full carriageway closure of the motorway, approximately 50 per cent. of those incidents have involved, but were not necessarily caused by, heavy goods vehicles.
	The Highways Agency is taking over responsibility for certain aspects of incident management on motorways from the police over the next twelve months. As part of this process data relating to incidents will be systematically collected by the Highways Agency. No decision has yet been made about which aspects of that data would be routinely published.

Newhaven Port

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) vehicles and (b) passengers passed through the port of Newhaven in the most recent period for which figures are available.

David Jamieson: The numbers of vehicles and passengers passing through the port of Newhaven in 2003, the latest year for which information is available, were as follows:
	
		
			  Thousand 
		
		
			 Road goods vehicles 34 
			 Unaccompanied trailers 3 
			 Passenger cars 90 
			 Passengers 397

Road Building

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transportwhat the average cost is of building one mile of new (a) motorway, (b) dual carriageway and (c) conventional two lane road.

Alistair Darling: The average cost of building one mile of new (a) motorway is £24 million per mile, (b) dual lane carriageway is £13 million per mile, (c) conventional two lane road is £8 million per mile.
	In considering the cost of a new road there are many variables, including the difference between urban or rural areas, a new route or an improvement of an existing network. These can result in significant differences in the cost for a similar standard. Factors such as quality of land, site geology, drainage, environmental mitigation, traffic management or restricted access can also have a large impact on cost.
	The averages costs quoted above are taken from roads constructed by the Highways Agency and include elements for structures, land, compensation, design and site supervision, but not future inflation.

Road Traffic Volume

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of percentage change for road traffic volumes by (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2020.

David Jamieson: Projections of road traffic were published in July 2004 in the White Paper 'The Future of Transport'. Estimates of the percentage change on 2000 levels for 2010, 2015 and 2025 are shown in the table as follows.
	
		
			  England, Percentage change on 2000 
		
		
			 2010 26 
			 2015 31 
			 2025 40 
		
	
	A good deal of uncertainty is attached to all forecasts and the numbers should be treated as indicative.

Safety Cameras

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Highways Agency concerning safety cameras on the (a) A205 and (b) A316 in Richmond Park constituency.

David Jamieson: None. The A205 and the section of the A316 inside London form part of the Greater London Authority Road Network—now known as the Transport for London Road Network—and are the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London. This includes the siting of safety cameras. Further information concerning the safety cameras on these roads may be obtained from:
	Keith Ollier
	Director of Street Management Transport for London Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL

Safety Cameras

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue has been raised in fines imposed as a result of speed cameras in Greater London in each year since 2001.

David Jamieson: This information is available for 2001 and 2002 in the following table and has been provided by the Home Office. I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary that his Department's available information relates to the amount of fines ordered to be paid following speed offences detected by camera, not all of which may have been be paid. This information is available for the calendar years 2001 to 2002, for the Metropolitan and City of London police forces combined. Home Office information for 2003 will be available shortly.
	
		Fines ordered to be paid as a result of speeding offences detected by cameras(1) within Greater London(2): 2001–2002
		
			  2001 2002 
		
		
			 Fines from fixed penalties 
			 Number of tickets(3) 52,100 54,100 
			 Estimated fines (£) 3,128,600 3,243,200 
			
			 Fines following court proceedings 
			 Number of fines 4,500 5,100 
			 Total amount of fine (£) 513,700 516,500 
			 Average fine(4) 114 102 
		
	
	(1)Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and The Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.
	(2)The Metropolitan and City of London police combined.
	(3)Includes cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.
	(4)Paid i.e. no further action.

Speed Limits

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department is assessing the merits of introducing variable speed limits on roads other than motorways.

David Jamieson: Variable speed limits have been successful in easing congestion and improving traffic flow on sections of the motorway network such as on the M25.
	Local Highway Authorities have the powers to introduce variable speed limits under section 84 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The most common use of a variable speed limit other than on motorways is to reduce traffic speeds outside schools particularly at school opening and closing times.
	However there are significant signing and enforcement costs associated with the implementation of variable speed limits on roads other than motorways. Past experience has also shown that, unlike on motorways, they achieve only a slight reduction in vehicle speeds in these circumstances.

Traffic Accidents (Essex)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many traffic accidents in which charges were brought in (a) Essex and (b) Southend-on-Sea in each year since 1997 resulted in (i) conviction and (ii)acquittal.

David Jamieson: The information requested is not available.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much each trust port classified as a public corporation borrowed for 2003–04; and what the estimated level of borrowing by each such port is for 2004–05.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 February 2005
	The latest information available in published accounts for financial years ending either on 31 December 2003 or 31 March 2004 in respect of existing outstanding borrowings is as follows.
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Bridlington 333 
			 Dover 4,963 
			 Falmouth 100 
			 Harwich 36,000 
			 London 7,058 
			 Milford Haven 6,311 
			 Poole 932 
			 Shoreham 357 
			 Total 56,054 
		
	
	Published figures for 2004–05 are not available but from information gathered from the ports we are aware of planned borrowing amounting to £10.7 million.

Vehicle Registrations

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency maintains records of the number of vehicle registrations by (a) street, (b) polling district, (c) postcode and (d) ward.

David Jamieson: This information is not routinely available. Vehicles are registered to the name and address of the keeper, and each record can be accessed via the vehicle registration number only. Through special scans of the record it would be possible for DVLA to identify vehicles registered to specific streets and postcodes. However, these are only normally carried out to assist police inquiries. There is no link between vehicles and the polling district or ward in which the address is situated.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Servants (Northern Ireland)

David Trimble: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether home civil servants who obtain posts in the Northern Ireland civil service and Northern Ireland civil servants who obtain posts in the home civil service retain their salary, pension and leave entitlements on transfer.

David Miliband: Pay and leave entitlements in cases of transfer are negotiated on an individual basis within the relevant Department's framework. The terms may vary depending on the type of transfer involved which may be a secondment, loan or permanent transfer.
	There are no significant differences between the pension schemes for the Northern Ireland and home civil service and individuals can transfer their pension rights between the two schemes. As both schemes are members of the Public Sector Transfer Club previous service will be fully recognised for pension purposes if the individual transfers their benefits on club terms.

Public Engagements

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list his public engagements since 1 February in relation to the co-ordination of Government policy.

Alan Milburn: Since 1 February I have undertaken various visits, speeches, media appearances and held meetings with a variety of organisations and individuals.

Lone Parents

Phil Sawford: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the co-ordination of Government policy in relation to lone parents.

Alan Milburn: The whole Government are working toprovide new opportunities for loan parents, whether to improve child care or help to find a job. I can report to the House that since 1998, the new deal for lone parents has helped 300,000 lone parents into work.

Ministerial Posts

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent communications he has had from the National Audit Office in respect of requests for information about the overall cost of his post.

Alan Milburn: The National Audit Office has contacted the Cabinet Office in respect of correspondence it has received about the cost of my office. Information about the level of individual ministerial salaries is in the Library of the House. The overall cost of my office will be published in the 2004–05 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts.

WALES

Cancer

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policies his Department has in place for supporting employees with cancer.

Don Touhig: The Wales Office has policies for providing support for its employees with ill health including cancer, as follows:
	Managing attendance policy for managers to provide support in long term sickness cases and keeping in touch policy;
	Special leave to cover doctors and hospital appointments;
	Making adjustments to working hours, duties and practice;
	Rehabilitation leave;
	Sick Pay Entitlement of six months full pay and six months half pay;
	Involvement of Occupational Health providers for advice and support;
	Support for applications to BMI for ill health retirement and access to payments under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (where appropriate);
	Welfare services;
	Network for Carers;
	Health and Safety policy.
	The Wales Office is provided with pay, ration and personnel services by the Department for Constitutional Affairs and support for these policies is given by that department.

English Hospitals (Treatment of Welsh Patients)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Secretary for Health on the treatment in English hospitals of patients resident in Wales.

Peter Hain: My Ministerial colleague, the hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Touhig) and I have had a number of discussions recently with the Assembly Health Minister when we covered a range of issues.
	Discussions are also on-going between the Welsh Assembly and the Department of Health on cross border issues.
	A joint protocol was launched last month, which was developed to provide guidance and clarify responsibilities to commissioners and health professionals. It will ensure that patients understand the implications of accessing healthcare across the border.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Consultants

John McDonnell: To ask the Solicitor-General what the total expenditure of the Crown Prosecution Service on external consultants was in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004 broken down by directorate; and what the cost of employing external consultants is expected to be in (i)2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii) 2006–07 and (iv) 2007–08 broken down by directorate.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) employs the services of external consultants to bring in special skills and expertise or to cover gaps in staff resources and/or where an independent assessment is needed.
	The following table provides a breakdown of expenditure by each headquarters directorate for financial years 2001–02 to 2003–04 and the expected costs of employing external consultants in financial years 2004–05 and 2005–06.
	It is not possible to provide forecasts for the following years as detailed expenditure plans for those years have yet to be agreed. Future expenditure on external consultants is expected to continue to decrease. The aggregate expenditure of CPS areas has been included to ensure completeness.
	
		£000
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05(5) 2005–06(5) 
		
		
			 CPS Areas 218 111 1,028 404 400 
			 Business Development Directorate 126 152 926 2,024 1,250 
			 Business Information Systems Directorate 4,887 2,328 1,033 846 600 
			 Casework Directorate 184 — — 47 — 
			 Finance Directorate 230 626 809 1,213 800 
			 Human Resources Directorate 1,271 1,207 2,889 1,712 925 
			 Policy Directorate 210 522 454 578 — 
			 Total 7,126 4,946 7,139 6,824 3,975 
		
	
	(5)Forecast

Criminal Justice System (Military)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Attorney-General will re-assess his role in the operation and application of the criminal justice system as it relates to the military.

Harriet Harman: In the Attorney-General's Statement (14 June 2004, Official Report, House of Lords, columns WS22–24) he set out the role of the military prosecuting authorities, which act independently of the military chain of command. They are subject to the general superintendence of the Attorney-General.
	The court martial system was established under the Army Act 1955 and is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Defence. The Attorney's role relates to prosecutions brought by the military service prosecuting authorities. The Attorney-General will not be re-assessing his role in this regard.

Crown Prosecution Service (Essex Pilot)

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General, if she will make a statement on the (a) operation and (b) outcome of the pilot scheme attaching Crown Prosecution Service officers to police officers; in which police authorities the pilots are being conducted; and in which districts in Essex the pilot is being conducted.

Harriet Harman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 January 2005, Official Report, column 666W.
	The outcome of the pilot scheme was that significant benefits to the whole criminal justice system were identified, principally that with full roll out of the statutory scheme up to 30,000 more offences could be brought to justice per year.
	Statutory charging is now operating in:
	West Yorkshire and Kent from 17 May 2004;
	South Yorkshire from 24 May 2004;
	Cleveland from 4 June 2004;
	Lancashire from 15 June 2004;
	Northumbria from 28 June 2004;
	Avon and Somerset, and Nottinghamshire from 5 July 2004;
	Humberside from 31 August 2004;
	Greater Manchester from 6 September 2004;
	Thames Valley from 14 September 2004;
	Merseyside from 4 October 2004;
	London from 1 November 2004; and West Midlands from 9 November 2004.
	Pilot schemes in CPS Essex have now been superseded by shadow charging schemes, as they have in the remaining 29 criminal justice areas. This is operating at Colchester, Chelmsford, Southend, Basildon, Grays and Harlow police stations. When Essex moves to statutory charging during 2005, there will be three additional charging suites with crown prosecutors based at Rayleigh, Braintree and Clacton-on-Sea.

Environmental Crime

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance she has provided to the Crown Prosecution Service on legislative provisions introduced since 1997 which availed a reversal of the burden of proof in environmental crimes; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service does not generally prosecute in cases of environmental crime.
	Like all prosecuting authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service carefully monitors developments in criminal cases involving challenges to reverse burdens. Where appropriate, it issues guidance, or revisions to guidance, on reverse burden cases to its prosecutors.
	The CPS issued guidance circulars to its prosecutors following the decision of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords in Lambert" and, more recently, the decision of the Court of Appeal in Attorney General's Reference (No. l of 2004)." It also used its internal newsletter to notify prosecutors of the decisions of the courts in Lynch v DPP; Attorney General's Reference (No. 4 of 2002); Sheldrake v DPP." None of these cases have concerned legislative provisions introduced since 1997 which availed a reversal of the burden of proof in environmental crimes.

Iraq (Legal Advice)

Llew Smith: To ask the Solicitor-General what the reasons were for the choice of Professor Greenwood of the London School of Economics to be invited to contribute to the drafting of the legal advice prepared by the Attorney-General on the legal basis for taking military action to invade Iraq in March 2003.

Harriet Harman: Professor Christopher Greenwood QC is an expert in the field of international law in the United Kingdom. He has advised the Government on issues of international law on many occasions, including, for example, in relation to proceedings commenced against the UK in the International Court of Justice by the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro) in 1999, which sought to challenge the legality of the military action in Kosovo.
	Professor Greenwood did not contribute to the drafting of the Attorney-General's advice on the legality of the use of force against Iraq. As I set out in my reply to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) on 29 March 2004, Official Report, column 1147W, no non-Governmental experts or lawyers were asked to advise the Attorney-General on whether the conflict in Iraq was lawful. Professor Greenwood was instructed to assist in relation to legal issues arising from the Iraq conflict, including the preparation of the Attorney-General's statement to Parliament on 17 March 2003.

Mobile Phone Offences

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions there have been in (a) England and Wales, (b) Essex and (c) Southend for the offence of driving while using a hand-held mobile phone since the introduction of the law.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service Compass Case Management System (CMS) can provide, with effect from February 2004, a record of specific offences which were the subject of a court hearing, and of the number of such offences. These records indicate that, during the period of February 2004 to December 2004, CPS Essex handled prosecutions in respect of three offences under s110 (1) Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986, of which one was dealt with by Southend Criminal Justice Unit. Of these three, one pleaded guilty, one was convicted by the magistrates court and one was acquitted by the magistrates court. In the same period, the Crown Prosecution Service handled prosecutions in respect of 197 offences nationally.
	Please note this offence can be dealt with by a fixed penalty notice issued by the Police. These proceedings are not included in the above figures.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General what discussions the SFO has had with the Home Office with regard to whether the new Serious Organised Crime Agency SOCA will play a role in investigating overseas corruption.

Harriet Harman: The Serious Fraud Office has not held any discussions with the Home Office in respect of the potential role of the Serious Organised Crime Agency in investigating allegations of overseas corruption.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the SFO has decided to open a domestic investigation into the allegations of overseas bribery on the Nigerian LNG project at Bonny Island.

Harriet Harman: The SFO has not commenced a domestic investigation into allegations of overseas bribery in relation to the Nigerian LNG project at Bonny Island.
	Mutual legal assistance continues to be provided by the SFO to the authorities of the USA and France. The situation will continue to be monitored with a view to determining whether a domestic investigation into this matter is appropriate.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the police forces from which the SFO is getting assistance with overseas bribery investigations.

Harriet Harman: Of the three cases of overseas corruption currently under investigation, the Ministry of Defence Police are providing assistance on two cases. To date no police force has formally appointed to the third case.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General how many full investigations into allegations of overseas bribery the SFO are undertaking.

Harriet Harman: The SFO is currently conducting three investigations where allegations of overseas corruption may constitute an element of the case.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General how many vetting investigations into allegations of overseas bribery the Serious Fraud Office is currently overtaking.

Harriet Harman: Thirteen referrals where allegations of overseas corruption may constitute an element of the referral are currently subject to the SFO vetting process.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent assessment she has made of whether the Serious Fraud Office has sufficient resources to investigate allegations of overseas bribery.

Harriet Harman: Of the three cases of overseas corruption currently under investigation, one has to date no police force formally appointed to it. The Ministry of Defence police are providing assistance on two cases.

Overseas Corruption Investigation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General how many investigations into overseas bribery the Serious Fraud Office estimates that it is able to undertake in any one financial year.

Harriet Harman: The SFO is unable to provide an estimate because it is unclear how many referrals of this type of offence will be annually passed to the SFO.
	The SFO does not allocate staff resource by category of offence.

Rape/Sexual Assault

Vera Baird: To ask the Solicitor-General how the No Witness No Justice programme interacts with the work of sexual assault referral centres.

Harriet Harman: Sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) provide a co-ordinated service to victims in the immediate aftermath of rape or other sexual assault. victims receive medical attention and counselling, and can have a forensic examination and report the rape/sexual assault to the police if they so choose. There are 13 SARCs across England and Wales.
	As part of the no witness, no justice programme, witness care units (WCUs) were established. They provide a single point of contact for victims and witnesses to turn to for information and support from the point of charge until the conclusion of the case. By the end of March this year, there will be 81 such units nationally, and at least one covering each CPS Area. By the end of this year, there will be 165 such units covering all of England and Wales.
	That SARCs and WCUs complement each other in helping place the victim at the heart of the criminal justice system.

Special Advocates

Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General how many Special Advocates have resigned; and how many are in office.

Harriet Harman: Two special advocates have resigned. There are thirteen in office.

Special Advocates

Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General when she received the letter of resignation of Ian Macdonald QC as a Special Advocate; and when she replied to the letter.

Harriet Harman: Ian Macdonald's letter of 17 December tendering his resignation as special advocate with effect from 20 December was received by the Attorney-General on 21 December 2004. The Attorney-General replied on 21 December 2004.

TREASURY

Alcohol-related Deaths (Tyne and Wear)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many deaths in each local authority area in Tyne and Wear alcohol use was recorded as a contributory factor since 2000; and how many of those deaths were in those aged under 30 years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Jim Cousins, dated 8 March 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for how many deaths in each local authority area in Tyne and Wear, alcohol use was recorded as a contributory factor since 2000; and how many of those deaths were in those aged under 30 years. (220399)
	The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. The attached table shows the numbers of deaths among residents of local authorities in the former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear where the underlying cause of death indicated a condition directly related to alcohol use in the years 2000 to 2003. During this four year period, six of these deaths in the former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear were of people aged under 30.
	The ONS definition of alcohol-related deaths only includes those causes regarded as being most directly due to alcohol consumption. Apart from deaths due to accidental poisoning with alcohol, this definition excludes external causes of death, such as road traffic deaths and other accidents, and alcohol-related suicides and homicides. Estimates of the annual total number of deaths in which alcohol has played a role can therefore vary widely depending on the criteria used. The definition used by ONS allows for consistent comparisons over time for those deaths where a clear association with alcohol consumption can generally be assumed.
	
		Alcohol-related deaths(6) by local authority in the former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear area,(7) 2000–03(7)(5507500008) -- Number
		
			 Local authority 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Gateshead 27 31 23 38 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 44 32 48 44 
			 North Tyneside 30 28 22 33 
			 South Tyneside 17 19 28 31 
			 Sunderland 53 38 44 45 
		
	
	(6)For the year 2000 the cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (1CD-9). The codes used by ONS to define alcohol-related deaths are listed below:
	291—Alcoholic psychoses.
	303—Alcohol dependence syndrome.
	305.0—Non-dependent abuse of alcohol.
	425.5—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
	571—Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis.
	E860—Accidental poisoning by alcohol.
	For the years 2001–03 the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) was used. To maintain comparability with earlier years the following codes were used:
	F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.
	142.6—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
	K70—Alcoholic liver disease
	K73—Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified.
	K74—Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver.
	X45—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.
	The selection of codes to define alcohol-related deaths is described in:
	Baker A and Rooney C (2003). Recent trends in alcohol-related mortality, and the impact of ICD-10 on the monitoring of these deaths in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly 17, pp5–14.
	(7)Usual residents of these areas.
	(8)Deaths occurring in each calendar year.

Council Tax Receipts

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the change to council tax receipts in 2005–06 arising from the business rates revaluation in England.

Stephen Timms: The new non-domestic rating lists have been published and will take effect on rate bills from 1 April 2005. Revaluation has no impact on aggregate yield from business rates in real terms and is only one aspect of the local authority settlement and therefore will have no impact on council tax receipts in 2005–06.

Croydon, Central

Geraint Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Croydon Central, the effects of the Department's policies and actions on Croydon Central constituency since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The Government have put in place a broad programme of both macroeconomic and microeconomic reform since our election in 1997 designed to better the economic performance of all parts of the UK. Since these policies were implemented, the economic performance of the Croydon Central constituency has improved considerably. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by 52 per cent., while long-term unemployment has fallen by 92 per cent. and long-term youth unemployment has fallen by 82 per cent.
	The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at local authority ward level, taken from the 2001 census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics. gov.uk./.

Earnings

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequerwhat the percentage change in earnings was in each region of the UK for 2003–04, in descending order.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 8 March 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the percentage change in earnings was in each region of the UK for 2003–04, in descending order. (219854)
	Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period, by their place of work. This is the standard definition used for ASHE tables. The ASHE does not collect data on the self-employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I attach a table showing the percentage change for each region in the United Kingdom for full-time employees.
	The ASHE, earned out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It has a one per cent sample of all employees.
	The ASHE publication criteria ensure that all estimates are undisclosive. A number of estimates have been removed from the published tables for these reasons.
	
		Weekly pay—gross (£)—for full-time employee jobs(9): United Kingdom, 2004
		
			 Region Annual percentage change 
		
		
			 Mean earnings  
			 North East 6.6 
			 Wales 5.4 
			 Northern Ireland 5.2 
			 North West 5.1 
			 West Midlands 5.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 4.6 
			 East 4.5 
			 London 3.6 
			 East Midlands 3.4 
			 South West 3.4 
			 South East 2.9 
			 Scotland 2.9 
			   
			 Median earnings  
			 North East 7.1 
			 Northern Ireland 6.6 
			 Wales 6.2 
			 West Midlands 5.1 
			 North West 5.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 4.8 
			 London 4.6 
			 East 4.1 
			 South East 3.8 
			 Scotland 3.5 
			 South West 3.3 
			 East Midlands 2.8 
		
	
	(9)Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	Source:
	Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Immigration

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Government has made of the change in levels of immigration by travellers from the Republic of Ireland into the UK over the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 8 March 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question regarding the levels of immigration by travellers from the Republic of Ireland into the UK over the last five years. (219877)
	The phrase 'travellers from the Republic of Ireland' has been taken to refer to all those migrating from the Republic to the United Kingdom, not specifically to Irish Travellers who constitute a subgroup of the populations of both the Republic of Ireland and the UK.
	The attached table shows the estimates of total migration between the two countries from 1999 to 2003, the latter of which is the most recent year for which estimates are available. The inflow estimates refer to migrants moving from the Republic of Ireland to the UK; the outflow estimates refer to those moving in the opposite direction; and the balance shows the net effect of these flows on the population of the UK. A migrant is defined as someone who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country of destination effectively becomes the country of usual residence.
	We are unable to provide estimates for Irish Travellers as a population subgroup as we have no means of identifying them in the data sources used to make international migration estimates.
	
		International migration between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland -- United Kingdom—Thousand
		
			 Time series 1999 to 2003 Inflow Outflow Balance 
		
		
			 1999 8.3 19.0 -10.7 
			 2000 5.8 16.0 -10.2 
			 2001 5.2 14.3 -9.1 
			 2002 5.1 13.1 -8.1 
			 2003 5.0 13.1 -8.1 
		
	
	Source:
	Estimates of migration between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are made using data primarily from the Irish Quarterly National Household Survey. They are agreed between the Irish Central Statistics Office and ONS.

Income Tax (Pensioners)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) percentage of pensioner households paying income tax in the UK (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region and country of the UK in (A) 1997 and (B) 2004–05.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of (a) the number and (b) percentage of pensioner households paying income tax in (A) 1997 and (B) 2004–05 in the UK (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region and country is as follows.
	
		
			  (A) 1997–98 (B) 2004–05 
			  (a) Number (thousands) (b) Percentage (a) Number (thousands) (b) Percentage 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 2,880 47 3,360 55 
			 England 2,420 48 2,810 55 
			 North 175 44 215 54 
			 Yorks and The  Humber 230 41 280 50 
			 East Midlands 180 41 215 51 
			 West Midlands 230 43 255 49 
			 East Anglia 110 44 140 55 
			 Greater London 275 54 395 60 
			 South East 635 55 660 61 
			 South West 320 54 330 58 
			 Wales 175 46 185 55 
			 Scotland 250 46 300 55 
			 Northern Ireland 35 30 60 47 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.These figures have been estimated using HMT's tax and benefit model.
	2.They relate to single and couple households where at least the head of the household is at state pension age or above. The do not include multi-tax unit households.
	3.Figures for 2004–05 are based on the Family Resources Survey 2002–03; those for 1997–98 on the Expenditure and Food Surveys for 1995–96, 1996–97 and 1997–98.
	4.Regional figures are Standard Statistical Regions.
	5.All figures are rounded to nearest 5,000 households.

Micro-combined Heat and Power

John Horam: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what data he has from field trials concerning his intention to introduce a reduced rate of VAT for micro-combined heat and power units; what representations his Department has received from industry; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have stated their support in principle for a reduced VAT rate for micro-CHP, with any decision taking account of the ongoing field trials. As such, the Government continue to monitor the initial progress of the field trials, which are overseen by Defra and sponsored by the Carbon Trust in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust. The Treasury continues to discuss this issue with interested parties, and has received representations on this issue from industry and stakeholder groups.

Red Diesel

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to extend the derogation for recreational boat users to buy red diesel under the European Energy Products Directive.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr.Carmichael) of 14 October 2004, Official Report, column 344W.

Regional Offices

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  which (a) non-departmental public bodies and (b) executive agencies within the remit of his Department have regional offices based on the Government Offices for the Regions' regional structure; and when the regional offices were established in each case;
	(2)  what regional (a) bodies, (b) institutions, (c) taskforces, (d) panels, (e) offices and (f) organisations the Government have established since May 1997 which are the responsibility of his Department.

Stephen Timms: Non-departmental public bodies and agencies within the Chancellor's Department that have regional offices based on the Government Offices for the Regions' regional structure are listed in the following table.
	With regard to the other parts of the hon. Lady's questions, none of the Chancellor's Departments or agencies is responsible for any such regional entities.
	
		
			   Agency/NDPB/Office Government office in regions location Established 
		
		
			 Office of Government Commerce 
			 Alexandra House, Leeds Yorkshire and  Humberside 2000 
			 Rosebery Court, Norwich East 2000 
			 Liver Building, Liverpool North West 2001 
			
			 National Savings and Investments 
			 Milburngate House, Durham North East 1970 
			 Mythorp Road, Blackpool North West 1974 
			 Office for National Statistics 
			 Trafalgar Road, Southport North West 1988 
			 Titchfield, Hampshire South East 1962 
			 Ashford Airport, Kent South East 1996 
			 Channel Tunnel Terminal, Kent South East 2000 
			 Eastern Docks Dover, Kent South East 2002 
			 Hamilton House, Harwich East 2004 
			 Manchester Airport, Manchester M90 North West 2004 
			 Newcastle Airport, Newcastle upon Tyne,  NE1 3BZ North East 2004 
			 Stansted Airport, Essex, CM24 1QW East 2002 
			 Gatwick Airport, West Sussex, RH6 0NP South East 1999 
			 Birmingham International Airport West Midlands 2004

Teenage Pregnancies

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage pregnancies there were in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each year since 2002.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Sarah Teather, dated 8 March 2005
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many teenage pregnancies there were in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each year since 2002. (220181)
	The most recent year for which conception statistics are available is 2003. Figures for 2002 and 2003 are given in the attached table.
	
		Under 18 conceptions numbers and rates in London, 2002–03
		
			  2002(11) 2003(11) 
			 Area of usual residence Number of conceptions Conception rate(10) Number of conceptions Conception rate 
		
		
			 London 6,512 52.0 6,500 51.1 
			 Inner London 3,010 66.9 2,909 63.9 
			 Camden 135 49.3 136 48.7 
			 Hackney and City of London 303 75.3 276 69.3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 137 62.0 117 51.7 
			 Haringey 313 79.3 291 71.0 
			 Islington 173 62.6 171 61.1 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 81 42.8 57 27.6 
			 Lambeth 406 99.6 429 104.9 
			 Lewisham 328 75.2 333 74.0 
			 Newham 333 57.9 305 55.2 
			 Southwark 335 81.2 351 86.8 
			 Tower Hamlets 187 46.5 173 42.9 
			 Wandsworth 184 64.4 168 58.8 
			 Westminster 95 43.2 102 41.5 
			  
			 Outer London 3,502 43.6 3,591 44.0 
			 Barking and Dagenham 236 73.3 220 71.9 
			 Barnet 192 33.6 177 30.7 
			 Bexley 172 40.1 180 41.2 
			 Brent 253 51.4 280 56.2 
			 Bromley 179 35.1 203 38.6 
			 Croydon 367 58.1 342 52.6 
			 Baling 185 34.8 204 38.0 
			 Enfield 292 55.6 304 57.5 
			 Greenwich 248 61.9 279 69.1 
			 Harrow 115 28.0 112 26.9 
			 Havering 150 36.7 150 35.9 
			 Hillingdon 210 46.8 225 48.4 
			 Hounslow 158 40.0 181 45.8 
			 Kingston upon Thames 68 27.5 80 30.8 
			 Merton 118 40.5 119 39.7 
			 Redbridge 155 33.5 150 32.2 
			 Richmond upon Thames 63 26.6 58 22.4 
			 Sutton 110 34.9 106 32.1 
			 Waltham Forest 231 58.0 221 55.4 
		
	
	(10)Rate per 1000 women aged 15–17
	(11)Provisional
	Note:
	To protect confidentiality of individuals figures for City of London have been combined with Hackney.

Unemployment (Wales)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unemployed people there were in each parliamentary constituency in Wales in (a) December 1984, (b) December 1994 and (c) December 2004, listed in descending order according to the greatest drop between December 1984 and December 2004.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 4 March 2005
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Chris Ruane, dated 8 March 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about unemployment in Wales. (219893)
	Table 1 overleaf gives the estimates of the number of unemployed people, resident in each Parliamentary Constituency in Wales, for the twelve-month periods ending February 1997 and 2004. Comparable information is not available for earlier years.
	Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
	ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas. Table 2 overleaf gives the number of JSA claimants resident in each Parliamentary Constituency in Wales ranked in descending order of the changes in the number between December 1996 to December 2004. Comparable information is not available for earlier years.
	
		Table 1: Unemployed people resident in each parliamentary constituency in Wales, 1997 and 2004
		
			  12 months ending February each year  
			  1997 2004 Change 
		
		
			 Wales 106,000 67,000 -39,000 
			 Carmarthen West and South  Pembrokeshire 5,000 2,000 -3,000 
			 Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney 4,000 1,000 -3,000 
			 Newport West 4,000 2,000 -2,000 
			 Preseli Pembrokeshire 4,000 2,000 -2,000 
			 Wrexham 3,000 1,000 -2,000 
			 Pontypridd 4,000 2,000 -2,000 
			 Clwyd South 3,000 1,000 -2,000 
			 Ynys Mon 3,000 1,000 -2,000 
			 Rhondda 4,000 2,000 -2,000 
			 Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Llanelli 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Caerphilly 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Aberavon 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Newport East 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Bridgend 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Conwy 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Caernarfon 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Monmouth 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Torfaen 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Vale of Clwyd 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Blaenau Gwent 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Clwyd West 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Alyn and Deeside 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Brecon and Radnorshire 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Ogmore 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Cardiff West 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Vale of Glamorgan 3,000 2,000 -1,000 
			 Cardiff North 2,000 1,000 -1,000 
			 Cynon Valley 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Cardiff South and Penarth 3,000 3,000 0 
			 Delyn 1,000 1,000 0 
			 Swansea East 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Montgomeryshire 1,000 1,000 0 
			 Islwyn 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Gower 1,000 1,000 0 
			 Neath 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Swansea West 2,000 3,000 1,000 
			 Cardiff Central 2,000 3,000 1,000 
			 Ceredigion 1,000 2,000 1,000 
		
	
	Note:
	These estimates are based on very small sample sizes and are subject to a high degree of sampling variability. Changes from year to year, especially, should be treated with caution.
	Source:
	ONS—Labour Force Survey
	
		Table 2: JSA Claimants resident in each parliamentary constituency in Wales, 1996 and 2004
		
			  December 1996 December 2004 Change 
		
		
			 Wales Total 93,084 38,539 -54,545 
			 Cardiff West 3,467 1,267 -2,200 
			 Cardiff South and Penarth 3,590 1,503 -2,087 
			 Caernarfon 2,862 907 -1,955 
			 Carmarthen West and South  Pembrokeshire 2,958 1,013 -1,945 
			 Cardiff Central 3,098 1,177 -1,921 
			 Conwy 2,830 972 -1,858 
			 Preseli Pembrokeshire 2,954 1,128 -1,826 
			 Llanelli 2,639 882 -1,757 
			 Swansea West 2,951 1,203 -1,748 
			 Newport West 2,907 1,193 -1,714 
			 Ynys-Mon 3,073 1,365 -1,708 
			 Swansea East 2,697 1,040 -1,657 
			 Vale of Glamorgan 2,983 1,353 -1,630 
			 Caerphilly 3,086 1,479 -1,607 
			 Vale of Clwyd 2,519 995 -1,524 
			 Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney 2,840 1,321 -1,519 
			 Torfaen 2,444 933 -1,511 
			 Newport East 2,455 970 -1,485 
			 Rhondda 2,548 1,139 -1,409 
			 Cynon Valley 2,291 905 -1,386 
			 Pontypridd 2,197 913 -1,284 
			 Clwyd West 1,997 735 -1,262 
			 Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 1,855 646 -1,209 
			 Gower 1,933 730 -1,203 
			 Ceredigion 1,838 689 -1,149 
			 Neath 2,192 1,055 -1,137 
			 Wrexham 1,850 714 -1,136 
			 Aberavon 2,060 927 -1,133 
			 Blaenau Gwent 2,555 1,434 -1,121 
			 Clwyd South 1,761 660 -1,101 
			 Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 1,640 573 -1,067 
			 Delyn 1,667 669 -998 
			 Monmouth 1,651 654 -997 
			 Bridgend 1,946 971 -975 
			 Alyn and Deeside 1,751 812 -939 
			 Ogmore 1,782 880 -902 
			 Cardiff North 1 ,394 600 -794 
			 Brecon and Radnorshire 1,406 701 -705 
			 Islwyn 1,594 957 -637 
			 Montgomeryshire 823 474 -349 
		
	
	Source:
	Jobcentre Plus administrative system

VAT Registrations (Tyne and Wear)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many VAT registrations there were in each local authority in Tyne and Wear in (a) 1999, (b) 2001 and (c) each year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: Customs and Excise do not collect data on the number of VAT registered businesses by local authority. However, information on the number of enterprises registered for VAT at the start of the year is available via the Small Business Service website at www.sbs.gov.uk. This can be used to give an indication of the size of the business population within Tyne and Wear. Table 1 shows the number of VAT registered enterprises in this area at the start of each year between 1999 and 2004.
	
		Table 1
		
			 Local authority 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Gateshead 3,080 3,110 3,210 3,285 3,360 3,460 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 5,455 5,395 5,385 5,275 5,250 5,270 
			 North Tyneside 2,695 2,770 2,830 2,860 2,925 2,985 
			 South Tyneside 1,790 1,830 1,825 1,845 1,865 1,895 
			 Sunderland 3,830 3,860 3,875 3,855 3,895 3,950 
			 Total 16,850 16,965 17,120 17,120 17,295 17,560

NORTHERN IRELAND

Alzheimer's Disease

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the withdrawal from the NHS in Northern Ireland of certain Alzheimer's drugs following the recent recommendation by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Angela Smith: I have had no discussions regarding the withdrawal of any drugs used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Drugs in the generic categories Donepezil, Galantamine, Memantine and Rivastigmine remain available on Health Service prescription in Northern Ireland.

Alzheimer's Disease

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he intends to extend to Northern Ireland the recent National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommendations in relation to thewithdrawal from the NHS of certain Alzheimer's drugs.

Angela Smith: Guidelines produced by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) are only applicable to England and Wales and do not currently extend to Northern Ireland, Following completion of the NICE consultation on recommendations on the use of these drugs and the issue of their Final Appraisal Determination, the Department will then consider what local implications, if any, these final recommendations might have.
	Clinical guidance on drugs and dementia, which is currently being produced by the locally based Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team (CREST), will also be taken into account by the Department when considering local implications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Ards Borough (Planning)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will set out the number of (a) planning applications which have come before Ards borough council (b) which have come before Ards borough council with recommendation for refusal, (c) the number of site meetings which have been requested by Ards borough councillors and (d) the number of applications which have been overturned and given approval, each year for the past six years.

Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			  (a) Applications presented to Ards borough council(12) (b) Applications recommended for refusal (c) Number of site meetings requested(13) (d) Change of opinion to approval 
		
		
			 2000 859 304 (14)— 27 
			 2001 961 392 (14)— 48 
			 2002 1,023 327 (14)— 78 
			 2003 1,092 295 246 118 
			 2004 1,222 200 178 35 
		
	
	(12)For the years 2000–02 the figures have been collected electronically and as a result include deferred applications presented to council. For 2003 and 2004 a manual exercise was carried out and these figures relate to the number of planning applications taken to council with an initial opinion to refuse. Deferred applications are not included.
	(13)Information on the number of site meetings requested is not routinely collected and extracting the information for the period from 1999 to 2002 would be at a disproportionate cost.
	(14)Not available.
	It is only possible to provide answers to parts a, b and d of the question for the last five years, as the information for previous years is not held electronically by the planning service. Information for 1999 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	There is no correlation between the data within a specific year. The data refers to the year in which (columns B and C) applications were presented to council and column D the year that the final approval decision was taken by the planning service. It cannot be assumed that the number of applications overturned in one year is directly related to the number of applications presented to council with a recommendation to refuse. Neither can it be assumed that the number of site meeting requested relates to the number of applications overturned and given approval. Due to the complexity of the planning process it can be a considerable time between the receipt of an application and a final decision being taken.

Ards Borough (Planning)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many site meetings have been requested by each member of Ards borough council, in relation to planning applications which have come before council with a recommendation for refusal in each year for the last six years.

Angela Smith: The Planning Service does not record or hold any information on which members have requested meetings or how many they may have requested.

Cannabis

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) arrests and (b) cautions there have been in each police district command unit area in Northern Ireland for the (i) possession and (ii) sale of cannabis since its reclassification.

Ian Pearson: The number of persons either arrested or cautioned by the Police Service of Northern Ireland for Class C drugs offences from 29 January 2004 to 31 January 2005 are detailed in the following tables.
	
		Number of persons arrested for Class C offences by DCU
		
			  29 January 2004 to 31 January 
			  Offence 
			 DCU Trafficking a class C drug Possession of a class C drug Total 
		
		
			 Antrim 5 30 35 
			 Ards 2 20 22 
			 Armagh 5 42 47 
			 Banbridge 1 11 12 
			 East Belfast 8 56 64 
			 North Belfast 17 50 67 
			 South Belfast 18 80 98 
			 West Belfast 4 20 24 
			 Ballymena 9 43 52 
			 Ballymoney 0 3 3 
			 Carrickfergus 4 13 17 
			 Coleraine 8 40 48 
			 Cookstown 4 7 11 
			 Craigavon 8 29 37 
			 Castlereagh 5 13 18 
			 Dungannon and  South Tyrone 4 23 27 
			 Down 1 30 31 
			 Fermanagh 9 24 33 
			 Foyle 17 50 67 
			 Larne 1 1 2 
			 Limavady 5 32 37 
			 Lisburn 39 28 67 
			 Magherafelt 16 21 37 
			 Moyle 0 1 1 
			 Newtownabbey 2 13 15 
			 North Down 15 27 42 
			 Newry and Mourne 7 21 28 
			 Omagh 3 41 44 
			 Strabane 7 13 20 
			 Total 234 782 1,016 
		
	
	Note:
	Statistics are provisional and may be subject to minor amendment.
	Source:
	Central Statistics Unit, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Lisnasharragh.
	
		Number of persons cautioned for Class C offences by DCU
		
			  29 January 2004 to 31 January 2004 
			  Offence 
			 DCU Trafficking a class C drug Possession of a class C drug Total 
		
		
			 Antrim 0 13 13 
			 Ards 0 10 10 
			 Armagh 0 14 14 
			 Banbridge 0 5 5 
			 East Belfast 2 33 35 
			 North Belfast 2 23 25 
			 South Belfast 2 16 18 
			 West Belfast 0 6 6 
			 Ballymena 2 18 20 
			 Ballymoney 0 9 9 
			 Carrickfergus 2 27 29 
			 Coleraine 2 31 33 
			 Cookstown 0 17 17 
			 Craigavon 1 39 40 
			 Castlereagh 0 6 6 
			 Dungannon and  South Tyrone 0 12 12 
			 Down 0 26 26 
			 Fermanagh 0 3 3 
			 Foyle 0 34 34 
			 Larne 0 7 7 
			 Limavady 0 27 27 
			 Lisburn 0 17 17 
			 Magherafelt 1 13 14 
			 Moyle 0 2 2 
			 Newtownabbey 1 17 18 
			 North Down 0 32 32 
			 Newry and Mourne 1 11 12 
			 Omagh 0 13 13 
			 Strabane 0 4 4 
			 Total 16 485 501 
		
	
	Note:
	Statistics are provisional and may be subject to minor amendment.
	Source:
	Central Statistics Unit, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Lisnasharragh

Civil Servants (Political Activity)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland 
	(1)  what definition of political activity is given in guidance to Northern Ireland civil servants;
	(2)  what (a) guidelines and (b) restrictions are laid down for each grade of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in relation to (i) membership of a political party, (ii) holding office within a political party and (iii) other political activity.

Ian Pearson: Definitions of political activity are contained in paragraphs 965–66 of the Political Activities Section of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code.
	The guidelines and restrictions on political activity by Northern Ireland civil servants are contained in paragraphs 964 to 992 of the conduct section of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code. The restrictions are in place to ensure confidence in the impartial discharge of civil servants' duties, irrespective of the political persuasion of the Government of the day, while allowing staff the greatest possible freedom to participate in public affairs. The rules are concerned with political activities liable to give public expression to political views, rather than privately held beliefs and opinions.
	Copies of the relevant paragraphs have been placed in the Library.

Contaminated Land (Carrickfergus)

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what decontamination work is being carried out by public bodies in Carrickfergus on (a) privately-owned land and (b) publicly-owned land.

Angela Smith: No decontamination work is currently being undertaken on either privately or publicly owned land. A precautionary approach is being taken by investigating the land of the former Courtaulds site. An inter-agency group has been established to assist with these investigations and provide public advice.

Cross-border Bodies

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget for each cross-border body is for 2005; and what the percentage change is from the previous year.

Ian Pearson: The following table details of the budgets for the North South Implementation Bodies for 2005 and the percentage increases over the 2004 budgets. The figures quoted in the table for the Language Body are based on draft business plans provided by the agencies of the Language Body as the 2005 budget figures have not yet been agreed.
	
		
			 North/south implementation body 2005 Budget £ million Percentage increase on 2004 
		
		
			 Language body (15)14.737 (15)0.92 
			 Inter Trade Ireland 9.27 3.00 
			 Special EU Programmes Body 2.195 8.66 
			 Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights  Commission 3.67 14.69 
			 Waterways Ireland 34.16 7.76 
			 Food Safety 6.16 1.32 
		
	
	(15)The 2005 budget figures for the Language Body have not yet been agreed.

Departmental Catering

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many departmental (a) canteens and (b) bars there are; and how much has been spent on the (i) running, (ii) staffing and (iii) supply costs of each in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: The Northern Ireland Office has one in-house canteen and makes a contribution to another facility paid for jointly with other Northern Ireland Departments. The Department does not have any bars.
	The costs of running the in-house facility for each year since 1998–99, including staffing and supply costs are detailed as follows. Our records for the years 1997–98 to 1999–2000 are not complete and therefore these costs have not been included.
	
		£
		
			  Total running cost Staff costs Supply costs 
		
		
			 2000–01 29,992 13,151 13,748 
			 2001–02 34,468 15,125 15,125 
			 2002–03 38,529 14,071 19,028 
			 2003–04 25,091 15,318 7,084 
		
	
	The contribution made to the costs of the private staff canteen facility was £57,810.00 in the year 2003–04. It would not be possible to extract the payments made in respect of this item from other payments relating to catering and hospitality for the years 1997–98 to 2002–03 except at disproportionate cost.
	This answer relates only to the Northern Ireland Office and does not include information in respect of the 11departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.

Doctors

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many consultant orthopaedic surgeons there were per head of population in the Province on the latest date for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: There are 0.23 consultant orthopaedic surgeons per 10,000 population employed by the Northern Ireland Health and Personal Social Services as at 31 December 2004.

Doctors

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general practitioner registrars per head of population completed training in the Province in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		Total number of General Practitioner Registrars who completed training in Northern Ireland, 2000–04
		
			  Headcount per 10,000 population 
		
		
			 2004 0.27 
			 2003 0.24 
			 2002 0.21 
			 2001 0.21 
			 2000 0.22

Doctors

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase (a) the number of orthopaedic surgeons in the Province and (b) the number of operating sessions they devote to the NHS.

Angela Smith: The Department carries out an annual review of the consultant workforce in each of the hospital-based specialties, including orthopaedic surgery, and the numbers in training are adjusted to meet the assessed need, subject to available resources. There are currently 41 consultant orthopaedic surgeons in Northern Ireland. Investments in training orthopaedic surgeons in recent years have been with a view to increasing the number of consultants to at least 50 by 2010.
	Those orthopaedic surgeons currently employed in the Province devote 137 operating sessions to the Health and Personal Social Services.

DOE Planning Service

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning applications were received by DOE Planning Service in Downpatrick for domestic properties on (a) Ballygelagh Road, Ardkeen, (b) Upper Ballygelagh Road, Ardkeen, (c) Tullycross Road, Ardkeen, (d) Lisbane Road, Ardkeen; and how many applications came before Ards borough council with recommendations for refusal that were subsequently overturned and granted approval in each year for the past 10 years.

Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			  Applications received by Downpatrick divisional planning office Applications presented for refusal Applications overturned and given approval 
		
		
			 Ballygelagh Road 
			 2000 22 4 0 
			 2001 11 5 1 
			 2002 15 5 3 
			 2003 14 12 2 
			 2004 34 12 1 
			 
			 Lisbane Road
			 2000 6 0 0 
			 2001 4 2 0 
			 2002 3 0 1 
			 2003 4 2 0 
			 2004 10 2 1 
			 
			 Tullycross Road 
			 2000 3 1 0 
			 2001 3 1 0 
			 2002 1 1 1 
			 2003 1 0 0 
			 2004 8 2 0 
			 
			 Upper Ballygelagh Road 
			 2000 3 2 0 
			 2001 3 2 0 
			 2002 1 3 0 
			 2003 1 4 0 
			 2004 8 5 3 
		
	
	It is only possible to provide information for the last five years, as the information for previous years is not held electronically by the Planning Service, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	There is no correlation between the data within a specific year. The data refers to the year in which (column B) applications were received; (column C) applications were presented to council and (column D) the year that the final approval decision was taken by the planning service. It cannot be assumed that the number of applications overturned in one year is directly related to the number of applications presented to council with a recommendation to refuse. Due to the complexity of the planning process it can be a considerable time between the receipt of an application and a final decision being taken.

DOE Planning Service

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning applications have been received by DOE Planning Service for domestic properties in the Ards Peninsula, (a) in the five years prior to the publication of the draft Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 and (b) since its publication; how many applications in each case were brought before Ards borough council with a recommendation for refusal; and how many of these applications were subsequently overturned and given approval.

Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
	
		Pre Draft Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 (1998–2002)
		
			 Number Description Number 
		
		
			 1 Applications Received from 1 January 1998 until publication of the draft Plan 955 
			 2 Of those in (1) above the number brought before Ards borough council with a Recommendation of Refusal by DOE Planning Service 159 
			 3 Of those in (2) above the number which subsequently had an Approval Decision by the Department (16)Not available 
		
	
	
		Post Draft Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 (2003–04)
		
			 Number Description Number 
		
		
			 1 Applications Received post Plan up to December 2004 721 
			 2 Of those in (1) the number brought before Ards borough council with a Recommendation of Refusal by the DOE Planning Service 124 
			 3 Of those in (2) above the number which subsequently had an Approval Decision by the Department (16)Not available 
		
	
	(16)It is only possible to provide information for parts A and B of the question as the information required in relation to the number of applications which subsequently had an approval decision is not held electronically by the Planning Service, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Note:
	For the purpose of providing these figures the publishing date for the publication of the Ards and Down Area Plan has been taken as 1 December 2002.

Domestic Violence

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for NorthernIreland how many non-molestation orders have been issued in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	Non-molestation orders were introduced in April 1999 under Article 20 of the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. The figures show the number of non-molestation orders made each year since then.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1999 2,717 
			 2000 3,439 
			 2001 3,825 
			 2002 4,191 
			 2003 3,546 
			 2004 (17)3,286 
		
	
	(17)The 2004 figures are provisional and are subject to statistical validation.
	Prior to April 1999 personal protection and exclusion orders, granted under the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, served a similar function. The figures show the number of these orders made between 1997 and 1999.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 4,132 
			 1998 4,139 
			 1999 1,665

Domestic Violence

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many non-residential orders have been issued in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	Occupation orders granted under Articles 11 to 19 of the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 were introduced in April 1999 and the figures show the number of orders made each year since then.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1999 1,147 
			 2000 1,275 
			 2001 1,538 
			 2002 2,049 
			 2003 1,496 
			 2004 (18)1,196 
		
	
	(18)The 2004 figures are provisional and are subject to statistical validations.
	Prior to April 1999 personal protection and exclusion orders, granted under the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, served a similar function. The figures show the number of these orders made between 1997 and 1999.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 4,132 
			 1998 4,139 
			 1999 1,665

Energy Costs

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much each health trust in the Province spent on energy costs during the last year.

Angela Smith: Provisional figures for the Health and Social Services Trust expenditure on energy costs in the 2003–004 financial year are as follows.
	
		Expenditure on energy costs by HSS Trust 2003–04(19) -- £000(20)
		
			 Trust  
		
		
			 Altnagelvin HSS Trust 745 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 504 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 2,098 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 726 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital HSS Trust 1,033 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust 226 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 1,165 
			 Foyle HSS Trust 613 
			 Green Park HSS Trust 655 
			 Homefirst HSS Trust 984 
			 Mater Infirmorum HSS Trust 428 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 583 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 850 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 2,267 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 881 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust 1,117 
			 Ulster Community and Hospital HSS Trust 1,168 
			 United HSS Trust 1,055 
			 Total Expenditure 17,098 
		
	
	(19)Provisional
	(20)Year ended March 2004
	Note:
	Premises energy costs include oil, gas, electricity and other fuels.

Hyponatraemia-related Deaths

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the independent inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths will be able to compel witnesses to co-operate.

Angela Smith: The inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths has been established under article 54 and schedule 8 of the Health and Personal Social Services (NI) Order 1972. Under this legislation John O'Hara QC, as chairman of the inquiry, has wide-ranging powers to require any person to attend and give evidence or to furnish information on any matter in question at the enquiry. Failure to comply is an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

Illegal Cigarettes

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the value of illegal cigarettes traded in the Province in each of the last three years.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Customs and Excise does not estimate the value of illegal cigarettes at a Northern Ireland level.
	The latest estimates of volume of illegal cigarettes for the UK as a whole is available in HM Customs and Excise's publication Measuring and Tackling Indirect Tax Losses—2004," published alongside the Pre-Budget Report in December 2004, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

Illegal Drugs

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent estimate is of (a) the size of the trade in illegal drugs in the Province and (b) the amount of money received from that activity by (i) the Provisional IRA, (ii) the INLA, (iii)the Official IRA, (iv) the UDA, (v) the UVF and (vi)other criminal gangs in the last three years.

Ian Pearson: It is impossible to quantify the scale and total value of the trade in illegal drugs in Northern Ireland with any precision.
	This year's Organised Crime Task Force Threat Assessment, launched in May 2004, clearly indicated that the INLA, UDA, UVF and LVF are all involved in the trafficking and supply of illegal drugs. It is not clear however what proportion of the illegal profits is passed on to those organisations or retained by individuals themselves.
	The Independent Monitoring Commission's report of 4 November 2004 also provided an assessment of the criminal activities of paramilitary groups, including those involved in drugs dealing.

Illegal Fuel

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the value of illegal red diesel being smuggled into the Province in the last three years.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Customs and Excise's latest estimates of the revenue loss due to fuel fraud and cross-border shopping in Northern Ireland are available in HM Customs and Excise's Annual Report and Accounts published in December 2004.
	At present, it is not possible to break down these estimates into the value of revenue lost through cross-border shopping or different types of fraud.

Illegal Fuel

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of how many filling stations in the Province are selling illegal fuel.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Customs and Excise's most recent assessment in 2002 was that of the fuel retail sites in Northern Ireland approximately one third sold predominantly illegal fuel, one third sold illegal fuel periodically and one third did not sell illegal fuel.
	However, as a result of increased activity to target retail sites over the last two years' Customs are currently reviewing this assessment.

Murder Investigations

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Chief Constable of Police in Northern Ireland on the possible involvement of the Provisional IRA in the murders of (a) Mr McCartney in Belfast and (b) Mr McGinley in Londonderry.

Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland meets the chief constable and his security advisers on a regular basis to discuss a range of security matters.

Northern Area Plan

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the Northern Area Plan to be published.

Angela Smith: The Planning Service is completing work on the draft Northern Area Plan with the aim of publishing the Plan as soon as possible and no later than the end of May 2005.

Parades

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the outcome was of the inquiry undertaken by the Police Ombudsman in relation to the alleged breaches of determinations of the parades commission concerning parades in East Belfast on 1 July 2004.

Ian Pearson: The Police Ombudsman has advised me that she has not undertaken an inquiry in relation to the alleged breaches of determinations of the parades commission concerning parades in East Belfast on 1 July 2004.

Pensions

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how proposed Government pension scheme changes will impact on pension scheme members in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: It is assumed that this question is referring to the proposed changes to the pension schemes for civil servants, staff employed in the NHS and for teachers.
	The Government announced in June 2003 that it intended to proceed with a proposal to make the normal age of retirement for public service pensions schemes 65rather than 60 and that it intended to proceed with this through reviews of those schemes.
	As a result, consultation on proposed changes for the main civil service pension scheme in Great Britain and the NHS and teachers schemes for England and Wales is currently underway. As the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme for Northern Ireland, the Health and Personal Social Services Superannuation Scheme, and the Teachers Superannuation Scheme in Northern Ireland operate on a principle of parity with these schemes, the normal approach would be to introduce similar changes for Northern Ireland staff.
	It is proposed that the new arrangements would take effect from April 2006, but that these would not be extended to existing staff before 2013. In addition, pension benefits earned before 2013 would be protected in full.

Police Secondments

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will extend the personnel exchange and secondment arrangements announced on 21 February between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the police force of the Irish Republic to (a) other parts of the United Kingdom and (b) other member states of the EU.

Ian Pearson: I have no plans to extend those arrangements flowing from the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Policing Co-operation as arrangements already exist to facilitate the movement of police officers to other parts of the UK or other member states of the EU.
	Under Section 27 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998, members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland can engage in temporary service with other police forces in Great Britain. Similarly, Section 8 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 confers a power on the Policing Board, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, for PSNI officers to provide advice and assistance to international organisations/institutions or any other person or body engaged outside the United Kingdom in carrying out policing related activities.
	In addition, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland also has the authority under Section 98(3) of the Police Act 1996 to assist other Chief Constables in the UK should there be special demands placed on their resources.

Provisional IRA

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland what his most recent assessment isof the scale of illegal distillation of spirits by the Provisional IRA in the Province.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Customs and Excise has made no such assessment. The Northern Ireland Organised Crime Task Force's threat assessment and strategy document Confronting the Threat, which was published in May 2004, contains information on paramilitary involvement in organised crime. Copies of this document have been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Provisional IRA

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Justice Minister of the Irish Republic following his statement in February that Gerry Adams MPMLA and Martin McGuinness MPMLA were members of the Army Council of the Provisional IRA.

Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland met with Mr. McDowell on 21 February at Hillsborough Castle for the signing of the Protocols between the PSNI and Garda Siochana, during which a number of matters were discussed. The Secretary of State also met with Mr. Ahern and Mr. McDowell at the recent British Irish Intergovernmental Conference where a variety of matters of mutual interest were discussed and these are included in the joint communique".

Psychiatric Illness Claims

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in settling post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric illness claims against the Royal Ulster Constabulary and Police Service of Northern Ireland; what target he has drawn up for the maximum time to be taken in dealing with individual claims; and how many new claims have been submitted in each month since March 2001.

Ian Pearson: The group action being taken by serving and retired members of the RUC and PSNI in respect of post-traumatic stress disorder claims is listed for hearing in November 2005. The chief constable has not set target times for dealing with individual claims but they will be dealt with expeditiously and in accordance with the time limits set by the courts.
	The chief constable currently holds details of 3,363 claims which have been made since June 2001. However, the PSNI is unable to provide figures relating to the number of claims submitted on a monthly basis.

Road Accidents

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many accidents on Ballyquin Road, Limavady, County Londonderry, have been reported to DRD Roads Service within the past 10 years.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Gregory Campbell dated 8 March 2005
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary Question asking how many accidents on Ballyquin Road, Limavady, County Londonderry, have been reported to DRD Roads Service within the past 10 years (220441). I have been asked to reply as the issue raised falls with my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	With regard to accident statistics I should explain that the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) gathers road traffic injury collision information. Roads Service has access to this information for its own investigation purposes. We currently hold PSNI records for the B68 Ballyquin Road for the period January 1996 to February 2005. During that period there were 50 such injury collisions, including the recent double fatality at a bend on the road near Dungiven.
	Like the vast majority of the rural road network, Ballyquin Road was not designed to modern standards, though a number of improvement schemes have been carried out on the road over recent years, including the erection or bend warning signs at the double fatality accident location. However, the collision history along this road remains a cause for concern. We have, therefore, been analysing the nature and type of collisions along the road, with a view to delivering a package of measures designed specifically to reduce the number of collisions.
	As a result of this work, a route action Collision Remedial Scheme (signs, white lines etc.) for the Ballyquin Road has been included in our programme of works for the next financial year. Detailed analysis of the route is underway and we are intending to complete the necessary design work for this scheme within the next few months. The bend referred to above will be given priority within the scheme, so that any suitable measures can be implemented at this location, as soon as possible. Any more major improvement proposals along the road (realigning of bends, improving sight distances, road widening etc.) would, of course, have to compete for funding with other worthwhile schemes within our Northern Division area.
	You may also be interested to learn that we also intend to carry out some resurfacing work on the Ballyquin Road during the incoming financial year.
	I hope this information is helpful.

Robert Laverty

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the investigation into the murder of Robert Laverty on 15 July 1972 in North Belfast.

Paul Murphy: The PSNI inform me that arrests have been conducted in respect of this matter. To date no persons have been made amenable for the murder of constable Laverty.

Sexual Abuse

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what Government resources are available to help the victims of sexual abuse in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Health and Social Services Boards provide a range of medical and mental health services to victims of sexual abuse via the Health Trusts. These services include counselling, medical services provided in accident and emergency units and specialist genito-urinary unit services. Government Departments and other public sector bodies also provide funding to voluntary sector organisations, such as the Nexus Institute, the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre (NI), and Victim Support NI, which offer counselling and support services to victims/survivors.
	The investigation of serious sexual offences and child abuse matters is the responsibility of the Care Units of the Police Service for Northern Ireland. The units are staffed by specially trained police officers and provide support to victims throughout investigations and subsequent court proceedings.
	The policy of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland is that the Department will consider the proper interests of victims (and witnesses) at every stage in the criminal process. The Department takes practical steps to give effect to its policy on the treatment of victims, including ensuring that staff treat victims with sensitivity and understanding, ensuring that proper use is made of appropriate legal measures to assist victims to give evidence to courts and that victims are kept informed of significant developments in the case in which they have an interest.

Sexual Abuse

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he plans to announce the strategy to address sexual abuse in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The development of a regional strategy to address sexual violence in Northern Ireland is being taken forward jointly by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Northern Ireland Office, in conjunction with other Departments and agencies whose responsibilities also encompass matters relating to sexual violence. It is proposed to publish a consultation document on the strategy in the summer of this year and to publish the final strategy in April 2006.

Sexual Abuse

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what services are provided by the statutory sector to the victims of sexual abuse in each health and social services board area in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The four Health and Social Services Boards in Northern Ireland provide a range of medical and mental health services through the Health Trusts in those areas. These services include counselling, medical services provided in accident and emergency units and specialist services in the genito-urinary unit. In addition, further counselling and support services are provided by the Boards through funding to Voluntary Sector Organisations like the Nexus Institute.

Smuggling (Livestock)

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the scale of smuggling in livestock in the Province.

Ian Pearson: I have no evidence of significant smuggling of livestock within the island of Ireland. Sheep and pigs can be traded freely, subject to European Union rules, which are actively enforced by the relevant authorities in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The export of cattle from Northern Ireland is prohibited under European Union rules though incentives to smuggle do exist. To prevent such smuggling there is close liaison between the enforcement authorities who share information and target action where necessary. Such action includes joint operations and following one such operation last year several prosecutions are pending. Other action taken includes the establishment of a central enforcement team within the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Veterinary Service, the targeting of cattle identification inspections and tightening the rules on movement of animals to ensure that the system of traceability is maintained.

Welfare Foods

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Government have to extend the welfare food scheme to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: A welfare foods scheme, parallel to that which exists in Great Britain, has been in operation in Northern Ireland since 1940. The scheme has been reviewed and consultation is ongoing, throughout the UK, on draft regulations for the introductory phase of the Healthy Start voucher scheme in a defined area in England. The intention is to introduce the new scheme in Northern Ireland at the same time as the rest of the United Kingdom.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

European Constitution

Kate Hoey: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what criteria the commission will apply when designating organisations for the EU constitution referendum.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission provided guidance on the designation process for the north east referendum held in November 2004. The commission has informed me that it is currently reviewing that guidance, and plans to publish specific guidance on the designation process for any referendum to be held following enactment of the European Union Bill by autumn 2005.

European Constitution

Kate Hoey: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission how the commission intends to regulate organisations that would be permitted participants in the referendum on the EU constitution that are (a) partially or (b) wholly funded by institutions of the European Union.

Peter Viggers: By virtue of the provisions of section 117 of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), all participants who intend to spend over £10,000 campaigning in a referendum are required to register as 'permitted participants' with the Electoral Commission. Section 105 of the Act prohibits organisations that do not carry out their main business activities in the United Kingdom from being permitted participants.
	PPERA also prohibits an organisation which is not eligible to be a permitted participant from making donations to a permitted participant, unless the total value of its donations to that participant is less than £200.
	As regards the institutions of the European Union, Iam informed by the Electoral Commission that it has already indicated that it does not regard the European Commission as falling into any of the categories of organisation that can be a permitted participant.
	The Electoral Commission will review the statutory returns submitted by permitted participants in order to ensure that they have complied with the requirements of the legislation.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Avian Flu

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to develop a vaccine to counter avian flu; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
	The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control has secured an isolate of the current avian influenza virus strain and has produced a candidate vaccine virus using reverse genetics" technology for use should this be required.
	We are working closely with other countries, the World Health Organisation, the European Commission and manufacturers to ensure that a vaccine can be developed as quickly as possible after a pandemic flu strain emerges.

Cross-compliance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether farmers will face penalties for failing to meet cross-compliance requirements; whether allowances will be made to farmers due to late information being supplied to them; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: Cross-compliance requirements for the single payments scheme (SPS) apply from 1 January 2005. Three booklets outlining cross-compliance requirements, which reflect either existing law or represent good farming practice, were sent out to farmers in late 2004.
	If SPS applicants do not comply with cross-compliance requirements, they may have their direct payments, including SPS, reduced in part or in total.

Cross-compliance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what inspection regime she has put in place for cross-compliance; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: In considering possible options for the enforcement of cross-compliance, Defra's key concern has been to develop a flexible, cost-effective and proportionate enforcement apparatus which supports the Department's policy objectives as set out in the Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food, based on the sustainable development of the industry, including taking account of the competitive position of agriculture in England compared with other UK and European farmers.
	After careful consideration and close consultation with the relevant enforcement bodies and stakeholders, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, has charged the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) with overall responsibility to ensure cross compliance enforcement meets the Commission's minimum requirements in 2005, provides appropriate coordination of inspections and acts a single point of contact for all cross-compliance related farmer inquiries. The RPA will discharge this responsibility working in partnership with the various specialist enforcement bodies, such as the Environment Agency, who will be formally delegated to carry out inspections within their respective areas as required.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Management Committees of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Sugar met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: On average the EU's Sugar Management Committee meets around 18 times during each presidency period. These meetings take place in Brussels on Thursday afternoons and are attended by officials from Defra and additionally, as necessary, by officials from other UK Agriculture Departments or the Rural Payments Agency.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairshow many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU Committee on agricultural structures and rural development met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The following meetings of the European Commission's committee on agricultural structures and rural development took place during the periods of (a) the Italian, (b) the Irish and (c) the Dutch presidencies.
	(a) Italian presidency
	23 July 2003
	24 September 2003
	22 October 2003
	17 December 2003
	(b) Irish presidency
	28 January 2004
	18 February 2004
	24 March 2004
	22 April 2004
	11 May 2004
	23 June 2004
	(c) Dutch presidency
	20 July 2004
	22 September 2004
	20 October 2004
	19 November 2004
	15 December 2004
	Meetings of the Committee are held in Brussels, and are chaired by the Commission, not by a representative of the member state currently holding the presidency of the Council. The UK Government experts present at these committees are officials working on rural development issues under the current programme and policy on future programmes from 2007–13—usually the head of the EU policy branch in the Rural Development Division in Defra (Colin Macleod). Experts from the devolved administrations also attend when issues relating to their particular Rural Development Programmes are on the agenda.

Farm Waste Grants

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans shehas for replacement of the Farm Waste Grants Scheme.

Alun Michael: Defra are considering whether to replace the Farm Waste Grants Scheme which ends on 31 March 2006. The scheme was introduced in 1996 for a seven year period when the first Nitrate Vulnerable Zones were designated under the EC Nitrates Directive.
	New NVZ designations were made in October 2002 increasing the NVZ area in England from approximately 8 per cent. to 55 per cent. of the country. At the same time these designations were made, the 1996 scheme was extended to the new NVZs to assist farmers in meeting the manure handling and storage requirements under the NVZ Action programme. An announcement extending the scheme for a further two years was made on 30 September 2003.
	As part of the Rural Strategy, Defra is currently introducing simplified and streamlined funding arrangements that replace the plethora of existing grant schemes. The new funding framework will be centred around three major flexible funds based on Defra's strategic priorities of natural resource protection, sustainable farming and food and sustainable rural communities.

Sickness Absence

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what initiatives her Department is taking to reduce the numbers of sick days taken by staff in the Department.

Alun Michael: The Department is fully committed to the management of sickness absence and introduced a new Sickness Absence Management policy on 1 December 2004, which includes many of the best practices contained in the Report of the Joint Review by the Ministerial task Force for Health, Safety and Productivity and the Cabinet Office report on 'Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector' (November 2004). Defra's policy has the support of the Departmental Trade Unions and includes:
	Welcome back discussions between line managers and staff returning from sickness absence, on each occasion of absence.
	Prompts for action sent to managers when staff have accumulated 15 and 30 days sickness absence in a rolling 12month period.
	Dedicated professional advice from Human Resources to managers dealing with sickness absence cases.
	Occupational Health referral options for managers who are concerned about the attendance of their staff.
	The Department is also introducing a new electronic Human Resources Management system, which will produce real time management information on sickness absence.
	Defra is supporting the recommendations made in the 'Managing sickness absence in the public sector' report, by taking part in a trial of more sensitive arrangements for the use of special/compassionate leave.

DEFENCE

12 Mechanised Brigade

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the radios of 12 Mechanised Brigade.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 3 March 2005
	12 Mechanised Brigade will deploy to Iraq in April with a mix of Bowman and Clansman radios. Our assessment is that this will provide robust communications for the brigade. Bowman will provide a significant increase in capability compared with the earlier Clansman system.

Aircraft Crashes

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of RAF Harrier aircraft GR7 ZG475 on 1 June 1995;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of RAF Tornado F3 ZH558 on 8 July 1994;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of a RAFChinook HC1 helicopter ZA721 on 27 February 1987.

Ivor Caplin: I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Camp Bucca

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the performance of the Prisoner of War Registration Unit and the PrisonerMonitoring Team at Camp Bucca in ensuring that the UK met its obligations under the Geneva Convention.

Adam Ingram: The Independent Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the recognised international authority to scrutinise procedures and organisations within detention facilities in Iraq. The ICRC visited Camp Bucca during the period that it contained some internees for which the United Kingdom was responsible and we understand that they were content that UK obligations under the Geneva convention were met.

Defence Contracts (Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence contracts have been given to companies in Chorley constituency since 1997; and what the value was in each year.

Adam Ingram: Estimates of the number and value of contracts placed directly by MOD (excluding its Trading Fund Agencies) with companies in the Chorley constituency are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Number of contracts Total contract value(£ million) 
		
		
			 1997–98 9 4.4 
			 1998–99 14 110.4 
			 1999–2000 17 137.6 
			 2000–01 14 40.0 
			 2001–02 16 5.9 
			 2002–03 12 39.5 
			 2003–04 7 3.8

Defence Service Agencies (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for each financial year since 1997–98 the Ministry of Defence police spent in Scotland (a) in monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The information requested is shown as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  Personnel budget Spend in Scotland Percentage of budget 
		
		
			 1997–98 134.396 31.887 24 
			 1998–99 130.135 27.382 21 
			 1999–2000 139.132 32.777 24 
			 2000–01 135.995 32.826 24 
			 2001–02 134.682 36.790 27 
			 2002–03 135.914 33.273 25 
			 2003–04 143.406 34.427 24 
		
	
	The number of MOD Police Agency personnel employed in Scotland in each financial year since 1997–98 is shown as follows:
	
		
			  MOD Police Agency personnel employed in Scotland 
		
		
			 April 1997 960 
			 April 1998 890 
			 April 1999 890 
			 April 2000 890 
			 April 2001 870 
			 April 2002 840 
			 April 2003 820 
			 April 2004 1,120 
			 January 2005 1,310

Defence Spending (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2001–02, (b) 2000–01, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 1998–99 and (e) 1997–98 the Defence Bills Agency spent in Scotland (i) in monetary terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Defence Bills Agency is based in Liverpool. It had no staff based in Scotland in 1997–98,1998–99,1999–2000, 2000–01 or 2001–02.
	Both Civilian and Service personnel data by Agency are collated annually at 1 April and presented in Table2.6 of UK Defence Statistics, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. Further information on personnel figures is available on the DASA website at www.dasa.mod.uk

Departmental Documents

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to publish an updated version of his Department's efficiency technical note.

Adam Ingram: An updated Efficiency Technical Note is due to be published in the autumn.

East Timor

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military advice his Department is offering to the new Government of East Timor.

Adam Ingram: Although the Ministry of Defence has previously provided military assistance to the Government of East Timor, we are not currently offering any formal military advice to them.

Gulf War-related Illnesses

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many veterans who have had claims of Gulf War-related illnesses refused have appealed against the decision; and what the success rate has been.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 7 March 2005
	132 veterans appealed against decisions that Gulf War-related illness conditions were not related to their service in the armed forces. Of these, 36 cases were allowed by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal (PAT).
	221 veterans appealed against the level of assessment of disablement. 74 had their assessment increased after being heard at the PAT, 80 had their assessment upheld, six had their assessment reduced, 39 were cleared pre-appeal and 22 were withdrawn by the appellant.

Iraq

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much block leave is allocated to units (a) prior toan operational tour of Iraq and (b) on return from Iraq.

Ivor Caplin: There is no established regulation on the provision of 'block leave' prior to deployment on an operational tour. Many units do work a 'block leave' system in which the unit will stand-down as a whole. These periods may take place at the discretion of the commanding officer before an operational tour, providing they do not conflict with the interests of the service and that there is sufficient time prior to deployment for leave to be taken.
	Post operational tour leave and post operational detachment leave were introduced in recognition of the stresses and strains that operational deployments bring to both an individual and their family and friends. The general entitlement for all personnel returning from a tour in Iraq of six months is a minimum of 20 working days leave. However, the breakdown of this entitlement between additional post-operational leave and an individual's annual leave entitlement differs between the three services.

Military Aircraft Crashes

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of a Tornado aircraft in Glen Ogle on 1 September 1994.

Ivor Caplin: I will place in the Library a copy of parts one to five of the Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the crash of a Tornado aircraft in Glen Ogle on 1 September 1994, together with a copy of the list of annexes to the BoI. The BoI papers have been declassified and redacted in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. A small amount of information at paragraph 19.n and 59.j of part two of the BoI papers, and some of the title of annex R in the list of annexes, has been withheld for security reasons, and information in paragraphs 22a, 34 and 46 of part two of the BoI papers have been withheld under the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8 (Right to Respect for Private and Family Life), enabled by the Human Rights Act 1998.

Mutual Defence Agreeement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the annual costs associated with the operation of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement in each of the last 10 years.

Geoff Hoon: The annual costs associated with operating the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) would include not only the operating costs of the Atomic Control Office (London) and the Atomic Coordinating Office (Washington), but also the costs of any Ministry of Defence and AWE personnel spending significant parts of their time on work associated with the Agreement, the costs of visits to the US under the MDA and the costs of transfers of material. Such information over the past 10 years is not readily available in the form requested and could only be collated at disproportionate cost.

Naval Operational Strength

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) frigates and (b) destroyers are operational.

Adam Ingram: As at 3 March 2005, there are 23 frigates and destroyers currently available for tasking by CINCFLEET.

Near Air Misses (Worcestershire)

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment on the safety of the Royal Air Force training flight path over the Air Ambulance Heliport at Strensham in Worcestershire.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 3 March 2005
	There is no flight training path over or near the site of the Heliport at Strensham. The Strensham location lies within the UK low flying system and Class G airspace, within which the internationally recognised principle of see and avoid" operates. Additionally, the site of the heliport is marked on low flying charts as a warning to pilots that helicopters are operating from there.

RAF

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of Royal Air Force recruitment campaigns has been in each of the last five years.

Ivor Caplin: The overall marketing budgets, which cover recruitment advertising campaigns and general material promoting the Royal Air Force, for the previous four financial years are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Cost incurred (£ million) 
		
		
			 2000–01 5.390 
			 2001–02 6.518 
			 2002–03 8.125 
			 2003–04 8.316 
		
	
	The most recent forecast for financial year 2004–05 is £9.100 million.

RAF

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect the planned changes to the Royal Air Force will have on jobs in (a) London, (b) Essex and (c) the UK.

Ivor Caplin: My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces announced on 9 December 2004 the outcome of the initial work on the drawdown of uniformed RAF manpower to around 41,000. Since then much work has been completed and the implementation has begun. Work on the impact of these changes on Ministry of Defence civilian jobs is also ongoing. However, it is not yet possible to say how individual jobs or their locations will be affected, but RAF and MOD civilian personnel will be kept informed of the changes as they develop.

RAF

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of planned changes to the funding of the Royal Air Force on UK national security.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Air Force is not funded as an entity in its own right; instead we invest in defence as a whole. I am satisfied that the changes announced to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 21 July 2004, Official Report, columns 343–66 and set out in detail in Delivering Security in a Changing World—Future Capabilities (Cm 6269) will enhance the UK defences and security.

Reapprovals

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list major project report projects that have been subject to re-approval since financial year 1997–98; and what the date of re-approval was in each case.

Adam Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

Shoeburyness Ranges

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has evaluated on the work carried out using radioactive materials at the Shoeburyness ranges as part of the original nuclear weapons programme; and what reports he has received on releases of radioactive material at the Shoeburyness ranges as part of the original nuclear weapons programme.

Ivor Caplin: The Ministry of Defence has just commenced a Land Quality Assessment (LQA) of the entire Shoeburyness site. It is expected that appropriate assessments of any historic radioactive contamination associated with the use of radioactive materials in support of the nuclear weapons programme will be conducted and reported upon as necessary as the LQA progresses. This work will build upon a Land Quality Statement, compiled in 1997, relating to areas of the Shoeburyness site formerly used for research in support of the nuclear weapons programme. The broad history of the part of Shoeburyness (AWE Foulness) formally used for these purposes is available in the report (ISSN1478–7008) of a desk-top investigation published by English Heritage in 2004.

Textile Procurement

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with officials from the Department of Trade and Industry about the procurement of textiles.

Adam Ingram: Ministry of Defence officials are in regular contact with officials in the Department for Trade and Industry on procurement issues, including textiles, and the Department is also represented on an inter-departmental committee chaired by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry at which a range of public procurement issues are discussed.

Tsunami

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Answer of 21 February, Official Report columns 113–14W, if he will make it his policy not to recover any costs, marginal or otherwise, from the Department for International Development in relation to the relief effort following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 24 February 2005
	The Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development agreed at the outset that the extra costs of the military assistance requested by DfID, for which the MOD does not have a budget, would be reimbursed by DfID. This approach is in line with normal practice and consistent with Treasury guidance on interdepartmental services. The MOD's activity—the full costs of which are estimated to be some £14 million—was central to the delivery of relief and it is realistic to see its additional costs as within the scope of the relief effort. There is no intention to review the policy.

Tsunami

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Answer of 21 February, reference 214418, what chargeable costs have arisen to date that are recoverable from the Department for International Development in relation to the relief effort following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 24 February 2005
	The Ministry of Defence's extra costs reported to the end of January 2005 in relation to the relief effort following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami amount to £1.7 million. All of this is related to costs for which MOD is not funded and which we would not otherwise have incurred. It is, therefore, recoverable from DfID as agreed at the outset and consistent with Treasury guidance on interdepartmental services. The full cost of MOD's activity in relation to this relief effort are estimated to be some £14 million.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Advertising Regulations (Lettings)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in which areas special exemptions from the Control of Advertising Regulations have been requested to allow controls on letting boards for rented property; in whichareas exemptions were granted; and for what reasons.

Keith Hill: Since May 2002 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received requests for directions restricting deemed consent for the display of estate agents' boards from Westminster city council, Brighton and Hove city council, Charnwood borough council and Leeds city council. All directions were granted under regulation 7 of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992, except for the direction for Leeds city council. We are currently considering the council's latest application. The directions that have been granted were to protect the visual amenity of residential areas of special quality from persistently high numbers of estate agents' boards and because there was no other way to effectively control the display of estate agents' boards.

Business Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2005, Official Report, column 1078W, on business rates, what the estimated average business rates bill for 2005–06 is.

Nick Raynsford: As made clear in my answer of 3 February 2005, Official Report, column 1078W, to the hon. Member, this information is not yet available.

Local Government Finance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) amount and (b) proportion of local government revenue was accounted for by (i) revenue support grant,(ii) other grants and funds, (iii) national non-domestic rates and (iv) council tax in (A) England and (B) each council tax levying authority in England in 2004–05.

Nick Raynsford: The information requested has been made available in the Library of the House.

London Parks

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much each London borough council spenton maintaining London parks in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: The amount each London borough council spent on parks and open spaces in each year since 1997 is tabled as follows:
	
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Greater London Authority — — — 0 0 0 1,649 1,814 
			 City of London 1,392 1,304 1,245 1,170 1,218 1,332 1,384 1,475 
			 Camden 1,462 1,587 1,446 1,565 1,808 2,025 2,476 2,520 
			 Greenwich 4,793 4,779 4,184 3,601 3,703 3,776 4,026 4,272 
			 Hackney 5,860 4,860 3,971 3,616 2,231 2,820 3,480 3,763 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 4,206 3,764 3,458 3,179 4,387 4,277 4,304 2,559 
			 Islington 3,131 3,397 3,616 3,492 3,363 3,327 2,155 3,882 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,940 1,923 1,990 2,245 2,318 2,523 2,689 2,784 
			 Lambeth 4,948 4,728 5,164 4,952 4,955 5,235 5,870 5,554 
			 Lewisham 2,281 2,368 2,230 2,349 2,979 4,173 3,170 3,747 
			 Southwark 6,448 5,936 6,049 5,202 5,232 6,250 5,971 6,248 
			 Tower Hamlets 3,496 3,709 3,909 4,488 4,557 4,554 4,831 4,946 
			 Wandsworth 3,789 3,861 3,909 4,267 4,396 4,940 4,517 4,473 
			 Westminster 2,498 2,639 2,341 1,993 2,187 2,075 2,070 2,004 
			 Barking and Dagenham 2,575 2,708 2,789 2,850 3,119 3,289 3,476 3,590 
			 Barnet 2,942 3,041 3,095 3,237 3,028 4,244 4,034 4,269 
			 Bexley 2,859 2,743 2,644 2,677 2,798 2,992 2,956 3,397 
			 Brent 1,970 1,926 1,813 1,957 2,277 2,350 2,545 2,925 
			 Bromley 6,103 6,397 6,229 5,785 5,656 4,887 4,839 5,898 
			 Croydon 4,656 3,761 4,131 4,600 5,574 4,400 4,614 4,220 
			 Ealing 4,416 3,963 4,779 4,592 4,840 7,067 6,960 8,156 
			 Enfield 3,300 3,971 4,019 4,245 4,355 4,439 4,611 4,618 
			 Haringey 2,036 1,882 1,953 2,040 2,463 2,494 2,732 2,739 
			 Harrow 1,624 1,259 1,318 1,706 1,703 1,796 2,678 2,586 
			 Havering 1,615 2,220 2,201 2,008 1,933 1,927 2,082 1,897 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1,378 1,440 1,398 1,537 1,806 1,779 1,315 1,363 
			 Merton 2,383 2,423 2,419 2,530 2,756 2,750 2,470 2,738 
			 Newham 3,521 3,289 3,325 3,641 3,816 4,156 4,016 4,320 
			 Redbridge 2,169 2,333 2,267 2,343 3,222 3,020 3,133 3,404 
			 Richmond upon Thames 2,089 2,115 2,251 2,456 2,100 2,343 2,418 2,229 
			 Sutton 2,135 2,119 1,932 1,870 2,797 2,424 2,020 2,371 
			 Waltham Forest 2,364 2,335 2,164 2,771 2,144 1,801 2,265 2,667 
		
	
	All figures are shown in £000s and the amounts are as reported by the local authority.
	The data are taken from outturn figures for 1997–98 to 2002–03 and budget estimates for 2003–04 and 2004–05.
	Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities.
	Figures for Hounslow and Hillingdon are not separately identifiable from other costs and are not included in this table.

Rateable Values

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated total rateable value is of hereditaments in each Government office region in England outside London that have a rateable value of (a) under £5,000, (b) between £5,000 and £10,000, (c) between £10,000 and £14,999 and (d) over £14,999.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	(a) The estimated total rateable value of the hereditaments in each Government office region in England outside London that have a rateable value under £5,000 is:
	
		
			 Region Under £5,000 
		
		
			 East Midlands 150,909,496 
			 Eastern 172,772,783 
			 North East 87,257,023 
			 North West 274,490,364 
			 South East 237,006,043 
			 South West 213,339,097 
			 West Midlands 190,722,327 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 203,247,248 
			 Total (£) 1,529,744,381 
		
	
	(b) The estimated total rateable value of the hereditaments in each Government office region in England outside London that have a rateable value of between £5,000 and £10,000 is:
	
		
			 Region £5,000–£10,000 
		
		
			 East Midlands 203,602,969 
			 Eastern 278,707,060 
			 North East 103,134,068 
			 North West 336,834,925 
			 South East 395,618,876 
			 South West 264,303,423 
			 West Midlands 270,025,555 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 246,707,566 
			 Total (£) 2,098,934,442 
		
	
	(c) The estimated total rateable value of the hereditaments in each Government office region in England outside London that have a rateable value of between £10,001 and £14,999 is:
	
		
			 Region £10,001–£14,999 
		
		
			 East Midlands 144,152,558 
			 Eastern 191,735,975 
			 North East 68,060,946 
			 North West 230,627,132 
			 South East 292,638,414 
			 South West 176,766,483 
			 West Midlands 186,690,117 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 168,992,315 
			 Total (£) 1,459,663,940 
		
	
	(d) The estimated total rateable value of the hereditaments in each Government office region in England outside London that have a rateable value of £15,000 or more is:
	
		
			 Region £15,000 or more 
		
		
			 East Midlands 2,184,656,602 
			 Eastern 3,169,127,175 
			 North East 1,176,740,618 
			 North West 3,835,436,700 
			 South East 5,293,329,799 
			 South West 2,347,624,118 
			 West Midlands 3,098,553,548 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,732,054,578 
			 Total (£) 23,837,523,138

Rateable Values

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated total rateable value is of all hereditaments in London that have a rateable value of (a) under £5,000, (b) between £5,000 and £10,000, (c) between £10,000 and £21,499 and (d) over £21,499.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	(a) The estimated total rateable value of all hereditaments in London that have a rateable value of under £5,000 is £228,277,654.
	(b) The estimated total rateable value of all hereditaments in London that have a rateable value of between £5,000 and £10,000 is £492,538,884.
	(c) The estimated total rateable value of all hereditaments in London that have a rateable value of between £10,001 and £21,499 is £756,251,984.
	(d) The estimated total rateable value of all hereditaments in London that have a rateable value of £21,499 or more is £9,073,749,318.

Rateable Values

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many hereditaments in each London borough have a rateable value of (a) under £5,000, (b) between £5,000 and £10,000, (c) between £10,000 and £21,499 and (d) over £21,499.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	(a) The number of hereditaments in each London borough which have a rateable value of under £5,000 are:
	
		
			 Region Under £5,000 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 1,626 
			 Barnet 2,278 
			 Bexley 1,820 
			 Brent 2,456 
			 Bromley 2,197 
			 Camden 4,587 
			 City of London 5,751 
			 Croydon 3,283 
			 Ealing 2,277 
			 Enfield 2,188 
			 Greenwich 1,973 
			 Hackney 4,291 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,708 
			 Haringey 2,623 
			 Harrow 1,395 
			 Havering 1,705 
			 Hillingdon 1,670 
			 Hounslow 1,253 
			 Islington 3,178 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,394 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1,407 
			 Lambeth 3,529 
			 Lewisham 2,888 
			 Merton 1,723 
			 Newham 2,572 
			 Redbridge 2,400 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,264 
			 Southwark 3,813 
			 Sutton 1,520 
			 Tower Hamlets 5,589 
			 Waltham Forest 2,821 
			 Wandsworth 3,525 
			 Westminster City 6,225 
			 Totals 88,929 
		
	
	(b) The number of hereditaments in each London borough which have a rateable value of between £5,000 and £10,000 are:
	
		
			 Region £5,000-£10,000 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 1,100 
			 Barnet 2,456 
			 Bexley 1,464 
			 Brent 2,398 
			 Bromley 1,974 
			 Camden 3,223 
			 City of London 1,665 
			 Croydon 2,426 
			 Ealing 2,446 
			 Enfield 2,022 
			 Greenwich 1,415 
			 Hackney 2,506 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,936 
			 Haringey 2,078 
			 Harrow 1,552 
			 Havering 1,608 
			 Hillingdon 2,070 
			 Hounslow 1,551 
			 Islington 2,852 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,160 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1,149 
			 Lambeth 2,258 
			 Lewisham 1,808 
			 Merton 1,326 
			 Newham 1,936 
			 Redbridge 1,724 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,571 
			 Southwark 2,728 
			 Sutton 1,226 
			 Tower Hamlets 3,156 
			 Waltham Forest 2,004 
			 Wandsworth 2,627 
			 Westminster City 4,716 
			 Total 68,131 
		
	
	(c) The number of hereditaments in each London borough which have a rateable value of between £10,001 and £21,499 are:
	
		
			 Region £10,001–£21,499 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 695 
			 Barnet 1,770 
			 Bexley 814 
			 Brent 1,395 
			 Bromley 1,302 
			 Camden 3,301 
			 City of London 1,763 
			 Croydon 1,295 
			 Ealing 1,707 
			 Enfield 1,256 
			 Greenwich 865 
			 Hackney 1,573 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,912 
			 Haringey 1,248 
			 Harrow 1,025 
			 Havering 1,057 
			 Hillingdon 1,418 
			 Hounslow 1,161 
			 Islington 2,276 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 2,012 
			 Kingston upon Thames 815 
			 Lambeth 1,362 
			 Lewisham 972 
			 Merton 928 
			 Newham 1,084 
			 Redbridge 1,004 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,321 
			 Southwark 1,797 
			 Sutton 626 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,134 
			 Waltham Forest 1,060 
			 Wandsworth 1,775 
			 Westminster City 6,822 
			 Totals 51,545 
		
	
	(d) The number of hereditaments in each London borough which have a rateable value of £21,499 or more are:
	
		
			 Region £21,499 or more 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 764 
			 Barnet 1,442 
			 Bexley 1,005 
			 Brent 1,569 
			 Bromley 1,434 
			 Camden 4,636 
			 City of London 6,115 
			 Croydon 1,716 
			 Ealing 2,259 
			 Enfield 1,322 
			 Greenwich 1,057 
			 Hackney 1,194 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2,063 
			 Haringey 1,143 
			 Harrow 927 
			 Havering 1,141 
			 Hillingdon 2,228 
			 Hounslow 2,144 
			 Islington 2,398 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3,307 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1,220 
			 Lambeth 1,269 
			 Lewisham 792 
			 Merton 1,248 
			 Newham 1,185 
			 Redbridge 920 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,277 
			 Southwark 1,896 
			 Button 799 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,259 
			 Waltham Forest 789 
			 Wandsworth 1,480 
			 Westminster City 14,582 
			 Totals 69,580

Rateable Values

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many hereditaments in each Government Office Region in England outside London have a rateable value of (a) under £5,000, (b) between £5,000 and £10,000, (c) between £10,000 and £14,999 and (d) over £14,999.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	(a) The number of hereditaments in each Government Office Region in England outside London, that have a rateable value of under £5,000 are:
	
		
			 Region Under £5,000 
		
		
			 East Midlands 62,044 
			 Eastern 74,207 
			 North East 38,498 
			 North West 115,191 
			 South East 94,244 
			 South West 92,279 
			 West Midlands 81,866 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 85,116 
			 Total 643,445 
		
	
	(b) The number of hereditaments in each Government Office Region in England outside London, that have a rateable value of between £5,000 and £10,000 are:
	
		
			 Region £5,000-£10,000 
		
		
			 East Midlands 28,549 
			 Eastern 39,015 
			 North East 14,403 
			 North West 47,371 
			 South East 55,142 
			 South West 37,154 
			 West Midlands 37,695 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 34,669 
			 Total 293,998 
		
	
	(c) The number of hereditaments in each Government Office Region in England outside London, that have a rateable value of between £10,001 and £14,999 are:
	
		
			 Region £10,001–£14,999 
		
		
			 East Midlands 11,756 
			 Eastern 15,647 
			 North East 5,540 
			 North West 18,790 
			 South East 23,850 
			 South West 14,419 
			 West Midlands 15,208 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 13,789 
			 Total 118,999 
		
	
	(d) The number of hereditaments in each Government Office Region in England outside London, that have a rateable value of over £14,999 are:
	
		
			 Region £15,000 or more 
		
		
			 East Midlands 29,737 
			 Eastern 41,919 
			 North East 15,113 
			 North West 51,901 
			 South East 66,408 
			 South West 34,622 
			 West Midlands 42,766 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 36,402 
			 Total 318,868

Southend Census Data

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received regarding the reliability of the 2001 Census data for Southend in setting the local government financial settlement for Southend.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received two letters during the consultation period for the 2005–06 local government finance settlement, one from Southend-on Sea borough council and one from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East. The later of these, queried the reliability of the 2001 Census data used in calculating population estimates for Southend.

Use Classes Order (Newcastle)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library the response of Newcastle upon Tyne city council to his recent consultation on changes to the use classes order.

Keith Hill: Consultation paper responses are not routinely deposited in the Libraries of the House. In this case, due to the high number of responses to the use classes order consultation (there were over 2,500 responses) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not plan to publish them.
	However, in view of my hon. Friend's question, the response of Newcastle city council's has been made available in the Library of the House.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of acceptable behaviour contracts.

Hazel Blears: Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) were first pioneered by the London borough of Islington with the Metropolitan police. Their successful model has been promoted by the Home Office and adopted across the rest of the country. They are voluntary agreements between a person who has been involved in antisocial behaviour and one or more local agencies. They are not statutory orders and we currently have no plans to place ABCs on a statutory basis.
	The use of ABCs and other early interventions are crucial as they show communities, and potential perpetrators of antisocial behaviour, that action will be taken against those who behave in an antisocial manner.

Antisocial Behaviour

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of how voluntary organisations co-ordinate their work with local authorities to combat antisocial behaviour amongst young people.

Hazel Blears: No assessment has been made however, we are aware that voluntary organisations are working closely with local authorities in many areas, for example, youth justice agencies like NACRO and Crime Concern are delivering local work with young people involved in antisocial behaviour and offending to support them to change their behaviour.
	In addition, children's charities, such as Barnardos, provide support for young people to divert them from crime and antisocial behaviour.
	NCH Action for Children works with a number of local authorities delivering support and intervention packages to tackle the problems of families who are on the cusp of eviction because of their behaviour.

Antisocial Behaviour

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of antisocial behaviour orders on the prison population of young offenders.

Hazel Blears: From data reported to the Home Office we know that up to September 2004, 45 per cent, (1,728) of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) were issued to juveniles. ASBOs were introduced in April 1999.
	From breach data reported to the Home Office from June 2000 to December 2003, we know that 42 per cent. of ASBOs are breached. The breach rate for juveniles is 40 per cent.
	Those breaching ASBOs are likely in many cases to be prolific offenders—evidenced by the fact that for those receiving custody, the majority were also sentenced at the same time for other offences.
	The figures show that only 30 young people in total between 2000 and 2003 were sentenced to custody for breach of ASBO alone—in all other cases, they were convicted for other offences at the same time.

Antisocial Behaviour

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding inappropriate conditions on antisocial behaviour orders.

Hazel Blears: An antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) is a civil order that protects the community from acts that cause or are likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household. Orders often contain prohibitions that prohibit a person from carrying out certain acts and excluding them from certain places.
	The most common behaviour tackled by ASBOs is general loutish and unruly conduct such as verbal abuse, harassment, assault, graffiti and excessive noise. The wide range of antisocial behaviour that a can be tackled by ASBOs and the ability to tailor the terms of the order to each specific case illustrates their flexibility.
	It is for the courts to decide what prohibitions go into an order. Prohibitions should aim to cover the range of antisocial behaviour acts committed by the defendant and be specific to the behaviour.

Antisocial Behaviour

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he plans to take to reduce the number of antisocial behaviour orders which are breached.

Hazel Blears: From breach data reported to the Home Office from June 2000 to December 2003, we know that 42 per cent. of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) are breached.
	Breach rate is not an indication of failure. What it shows is that ASBOs have teeth and if people don't abide by them there are serious consequences.
	Those breaching ASBOs are likely in many cases to be prolific offenders—evidenced by the fact that for those receiving custody, the majority were also sentenced at the same time for other offences.
	The figures show that only 30 young people in total between 2000 and 2003 were sentenced to custody for breach of ASBO alone—in all other cases, they were convicted for other offences at the same time.
	Individual support orders (ISOs) were introduced in May 2003 and can be attached to an ASBOs for juveniles (10 to 17) to direct the juvenile to activities that can address the underlying causes of the antisocial behaviour.
	Parenting orders introduced in February 2004 can be attached to ASBOs issued to those aged 10 to 15.

Antisocial Behaviour

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under 18 years old with learning difficulties have been given antisocial behaviour orders.

Hazel Blears: Information is not collected centrally about the characteristics of persons issued with an antisocial behaviour order.

Anti-terrorism Measures

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government plans to require buildings in metropolitan areas to use laminated glass to reduce the risk of mass civilian injury in the case of domestic terrorist attack.

Charles Clarke: The Government have no plans to require buildings in metropolitan areas to use laminated glass although where organisations perceive their threat assessment to require it, advice and guidance is readily available to inform and support its use.

Community Support Officers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the interim report on community support officers will be published.

Hazel Blears: The interim report of the national evaluation of community support officers was published on 23 December 2004. It is available at http://www.policereform.gov.uk/publications/publications/index.html

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood will receive a substantive reply to the letter to UKvisas of 26 August 2004 regarding an application made by Mr. Abdul Wali, and sponsored by a constituent Mrs. Fatema Begum.

Chris Mullin: I have been asked to reply.
	UKvisas replied to my right hon. Friend on 28 February 2005.

Crime and Disorder Act

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the work of social services departments is affected by their duty under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act to reduce crime and disorder; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, local authorities have a statutory duty to have due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of their functions on, and the need to do all they reasonably can to prevent, crime and disorder in the local area.
	With their responsibility for social care and welfare, social services departments in local authorities have a crucial role to play in tackling crime and antisocial behaviour. Social services meet their section 17 responsibilities in various ways, including caring for vulnerable children and adults who may be victims or perpetrators of crime and antisocial behaviour; identifying young people at risk of offending; providing support and guardianship to young people in the care system; and providing case conference input in antisocial behaviour cases.

Criminal Cases Review Commission

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed staffing reductions in the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the investigation of and reporting on alleged miscarriages of justice.

Paul Goggins: The commission are undertaking a review of their casework management processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Any assessment of the likely effect of any staffing reductions would need to be seen in context.

Departmental Costs

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on congestion (a) charges and (b) penalty charge notices by the Department since the commencement of the congestion charging scheme.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office policy will only permit the reimbursement of congestion charges when they have been incurred on official business, or where an individual has been awarded excess fares allowances as a result of a permanent compulsory transfer.
	Reimbursement will only be made of the initial £5 charge upon production of a valid receipt. Penalty charges incurred as a result of late payments are not met by the Department.
	The costs for congestion charges are not recorded separately on the accounting system and could only be determined by interrogating the paper claim records at disproportionate cost.

Dogs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) visual deterrent dogs, (b) guard dogs, (c) police dogs, (d) tracker dogs, (e) anti-terrorist dogs, (f) riot control dogs, (g) explosives detection dogs, (h) explosives and firearms detection dogs, (i) drug detection dogs, (j) cadaver detection dogs, (k) arson detection dogs, (l) anti-hijack dogs and (m) illegal immigrant detection dogs have been employed on Her Majesty's Service in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: I understand from the Association of Chief Police Officers that there were 2,003 active police dogs as at December 2004. It is not possible to break down this figure to the level of detail requested. Police dogs are not necessarily trained for one purpose and are able to perform more than one activity.
	Prior to 2004, data on the number of active police dogs was not collected.

Drink Driving

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for drink-driving resulted in custodial sentences in 2003 (a) in total and (b) broken down by police authority.

Hazel Blears: Motoring offences data for 2003 will be published shortly.

Drug Offenders Report

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date he expects the statistical report Drug Offenders in England and Wales 2003 to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: The report Drug Offenders in England and Wales 2003 was published on 1 March.

Education in Prisons

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many prisoners have (a) started, (b) completed and (c) dropped out of educational courses in prisons in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many prisoners have received an educational qualification in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: The information requested on individual achievement is not collated centrally and could be collected from individual establishments only at disproportionate cost.
	However, since 2000–01, the Offenders' Learning and Skills Unit and the Prison Service have collected information on participation and achievement at establishment level. Since 2000–01 the number of basic skills qualifications gained each year has been:
	
		
			  Number of basic skills qualifications gained 
		
		
			 2000–01 12,500 
			 2001–02 16,000 
			 2002–03 41,518 
			 2003–04 46,517 
			 2004–05 (to December 2004) 46,430 
		
	
	The number of work skills qualifications gained each year since 2000–01 was:
	
		
			  Number of work skills qualifications gained 
		
		
			 2000–01 n/a 
			 2001–02 56,320 
			 2002–03 89,201 
			 2003–04 109,237 
			 2004–05 (to December) 128,964

Immigration

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with the review of immigration and public health.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 24 February 2005
	The Cabinet Office has co-ordinated work between relevant Government Departments, including the Department of Health and the Home Office, to review imported infections and immigration. New measures to protect the public were announced in our five- year strategy for asylum and immigration 'Controlling our borders: Making migration work for Britain' (Cm 6472).

Infectious Diseases (UK Entrants)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed by the Government to test those entering the United Kingdom for tuberculosis; and at which ports of entry they are based.

Charles Clarke: The Department of Health advises that staff carrying out medical examinations at ports of entry in England are provided by the Health Protection Agency or the relevant primary care trust. Staff are not necessarily based full time on site at the port but may instead be on call when required. No figures are collected centrally on the number of staff involved. We understand that the position elsewhere in the United Kingdom is broadly similar.
	Arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the administrations responsible for those parts of the United Kingdom.
	At overseas posts, a number of medical referees are retained to advise entry clearance officers on medical reports obtained by prospective entrants. No figures are collected centrally on the number of referees involved.

Official Residences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the current occupants make towards the running costs of each; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure has been on those properties in each of the past five years; how much money was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2003–04; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment at each was in 2003–04.

Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister to him on 20 January 2004, Official Report, column 1037W.
	The annual cost of running the property referred to varies from year to year. In the last complete year 2003–04 the total cost was £9,557 excluding security provision, site rent and capital charge for the leasehold interest. The occupier is responsible for meeting all expenditure on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, and (d) private telephone bills. There are no domestic or maintenance staff employed by the Department.
	The cost of electricity and gas in 2003–04 was £433 and £1,786 respectively. These costs are met by the current occupier with effect from 31 December 2004. Information on cost of official phone calls can only be found at disproportionate cost.
	The total capital and refurbishment expenditure in each of the last five years has been:
	
		Capital and refurbishment expenditure
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2000–01 0 
			 2001–02 73,240 
			 2002–03 27,440 
			 2003–04 0 
			 2004–05 0 
		
	
	A major programme of cyclical refurbishment—the first for some years—was completed in late spring 2002.
	This was needed to maintain the repair and value property and to deal with the impact of substantial flood and storm damage.

Overseas Students

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals were made by international students who had their visa applications rejected in each of the last five years, broken down by visa issuing post.

Chris Mullin: The number of appeals made by international students who had their application for entry clearance refused, and broken down by visa issuing post, over the last five calendar years, is as follows:
	
		Student appeals received 2000–04
		
			 Post 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Abu Dhabi 0 0 1 5 5 
			 Abuja (BHC) 49 60 99 331 387 
			 Accra (BHC) 120 384 893 1,317 1,065 
			 Addis Ababa (BE) 2 2 8 15 9 
			 Algiers 0 0 4 17 15 
			 Almaty 0 1 1 3 19 
			 Amman (BE) 3 3 5 4 10 
			 Amsterdam 0 0 2 4 9 
			 Antananarivo (BE) 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Asmara 0 0 0 0 5 
			 Athens (BE) 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Bahrain 0 1 0 0 3 
			 Baku 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Bangkok (BE) 35 50 64 82 68 
			 Banjul 0 5 66 70 57 
			 Beijing (BE) 63 106 123 278 446 
			 Beirut 0 2 1 6 10 
			 Belgrade (BE) 2 1 8 4 15 
			 Bogota 0 2 1 0 53 
			 Bratislava (BE) 4 19 10 22 0 
			 Bridgetown 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Bucharest (BE) 11 10 11 15 10 
			 Budapest (BE) 3 0 3 3 4 
			 Buenos Aires 0 0 1 2 1 
			 Cairo (BE) 5 7 18 23 13 
			 Casablanca (BCG) 15 11 20 17 16 
			 Chennai (BDHC) 23 51 68 36 54 
			 Chicago 0 0 0 0 4 
			 Chisnau 0 0 0 0 5 
			 Colombo (BHC) 74 173 169 140 271 
			 Copenhagen 0 0 0 8 4 
			 Dakar 0 5 10 21 12 
			 Damascus (BE) 2 2 1 1 5 
			 Dar es Salaam (BHC) 57 65 103 87 85 
			 Dhaka (BHC) 85 251 392 300 692 
			 Dubai 0 0 2 22 14 
			 Dublin 0 0 14 9 11 
			 Dusseldorf (BE) 1 0 0 7 11 
			 Ekaterinburg 0 0 0 3 6 
			 Freetown (BHC) 2 26 29 46 103 
			 Gabarone 0 0 3 12 13 
			 Georgetown 0 0 3 12 7 
			 Guangzhou (BC) 27 57 39 59 31 
			 Hanoi (BE) 1 1 1 0 1 
			 Harare 0 2 3 147 151 
			 Havana 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Hong Kong (BC) 3 3 6 7 28 
			 Islamabad (BHC) 106 775 254 1,364 3,890 
			 Istanbul (BCG) 9 34 87 58 31 
			 Jakarta 0 0 0 7 16 
			 Jedda (BCG) 1 0 5 4 4 
			 Jerusalem 0 0 1 0 7 
			 Kampala (BHC) 1 9 110 205 269 
			 Karachi (BDHC) 72 147 30 0 188 
			 Kathmandu (BE) 33 119 112 104 126 
			 Khartoum 0 4 8 6 9 
			 Kiev 0 0 6 14 33 
			 Kingston (BHC) 4 11 10 135 153 
			 Kinshasa (BE) 8 2 10 14 27 
			 Kolkata 0 1 0 13 16 
			 Kuala Lumpur 0 1 3 7 30 
			 Kuwait City (BE) 2 1 0 2 14 
			 Lagos (BDHC) 125 188 272 551 1,438 
			 Lapaz 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Lilongwe 0 0 1 0 4 
			 Lima 0 2 1 0 0 
			 Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 6 
			 Luanda 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Lusaka (BHC) 1 6 29 57 38 
			 Manila (BE) 9 17 29 103 195 
			 Maputo 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Maseru 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Mbabane 0 0 0 1 5 
			 Minsk 0 0 3 6 2 
			 Moscow (BE) 9 21 23 15 21 
			 Mumbai (BHC) 24 41 175 273 472 
			 Nairobi (BHC) 44 59 42 86 130 
			 New Delhi (BHC) 14 72 100 286 328 
			 New York (BCG) 1 0 0 1 42 
			 Nicosia (BHC) 6 2 2 13 18 
			 Oslo 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Paris 0 1 1 2 9 
			 Port Louis (BHC) 28 46 65 35 45 
			 Port Moresby 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Port of Spain (BHC) 1 4 3 6 5 
			 Pretoria (BCG) C 8 11 13 29 
			 Quito 0 1 2 1 16 
			 Rangoon 0 7 26 25 12 
			 Riga 0 0 3 0 0 
			 Riyadh 0 4 0 10 5 
			 Rome (BE) 7 0 4 6 9 
			 Sanaa 0 0 2 0 8 
			 Santo Domingo 0 0 0 0 3 
			 Sarajevo 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Seoul 0 0 0 0 5 
			 Shanghai (BC) 24 56 19 20 20 
			 Singapore (BHC) 4 0 1 6 6 
			 Skopje 0 0 12 8 17 
			 Sofia (BE) 2 20 16 26 19 
			 St Petersburg 0 3 4 7 4 
			 Stockholm 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Tallin 0 0 1 1 10 
			 Tashkent 0 0 2 10 15 
			 Tbilisi 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Tehran 0 14 64 72 204 
			 Tirana (BE) 2 4 6 12 35 
			 Tokyo (BE) 3 3 8 1 4 
			 Tripoli (BE) 1 1 2 4 26 
			 Tunis (BE) 3 2 8 10 39 
			 Ulaanbaatar (BE) 0 0 2 7 5 
			 Vienna (BE) 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Wellington (BHC) 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Windhoek (BHC) 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Yaounde 0 4 31 80 164 
			 Zagreb (BE) 0 6 5 3 3 
		
	
	Source:
	Central Reference System
	UKvisas does not keep general statistics of appeals; these statistics are taken from UKvisas' central reference system and are subject to change. UKvisas makes every effort to ensure that statistics from our central reference system are accurate.

Parliamentary Questions

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the questions, tabled by the hon. Member for Ashford on 2 December 2004, reference (a) 203020 and (b) 203021.

Hazel Blears: I replied to the hon. Member on 1 February 2005, Official Report, column 840 (203020) and on 23 February 2005, Official Report, column 731 (203021).

Plea Bargaining

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will bring forward amendments to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill to ensure that plea bargaining will be exercised in a way that minimises the risk of miscarriages of justice.

Caroline Flint: The Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill includes building on the existing common law provisions relating to Queen's Evidence. Placing it on a statutory footing is intended to increase the use of Queen's Evidence while minimising the risk of miscarriages of justice. The Bill's provisions will increase the transparency of the process and provide for those who get a reduction in their sentence to bere-sentenced if subsequently it is discovered their co-operation was not genuine, both of which are significant additional safeguards.

Police

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2005, Official Report, column 547W, on police administrative staff, how many police forces accept the contents of the Police Staff Council Handbook as the minimum terms and conditions for their staff; how many forces have not adopted (a) some of and (b) all the contents of the Handbook in respect of staff terms and conditions; what the position is of the Hampshire force; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Adoption of the terms and conditions of the Police Staff Council (PSC) of England and Wales Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook is by voluntary agreement by individual forces. Forces can take account of the handbook in deciding on the terms and conditions for their staff in the light of force requirements and circumstances. Neither the Home Office nor the Employers Organisation collect information about which of the provisions of the Handbook individual forces have chosen to incorporate in local terms and conditions of service.
	Hampshire constabulary police staff contracts of employment are agreed by the force taking into consideration the Police Staff Council Handbook terms and conditions.

Police

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2005, Official Report, column 547W, on police administrative staff, which police forces are not members of the Police Staff Council (PSC); if he will make it mandatory for participating forces to adopt the contents of the PSC handbook as the minimum terms and conditions for police staff employed by those forces; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review the pay and conditions of police officers.

Hazel Blears: The Government's plans for police reform are set out in the White Paper Building Communities, Beating Crime". Chapter 4 of this paper contains our proposals for police workforce reform including those relating to police officers.

Police Vehicles

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accidents involving police vehicles there have been in each year since 1997 in (a) Essex and (b) Southend.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table. Information on accidents involving police vehicles in Southend is not collected centrally.
	
		Road traffic collisions on public roads in Essex in which police vehicles were involved
		
			  Number of collisions 
		
		
			 1997–98 396 
			 1998–99 406 
			 1999–2000 392 
			 2000–01 446 
			 2001–02 392 
			 2002–03 414 
			 2003–04 345

Ports of Entry (Security)

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to increase security at ports of entry.

Charles Clarke: We have already made significant improvements to the security of the border with;
	the closure of the Red Cross centre in Sangatte;
	the expansion of our juxtaposed controls, (the establishment of frontier control zones in key locations overseas to enable UK immigration officers to consider and decide the admissibility of passengers prior to embarkation for the UK);
	the deployment of new detection technology;
	and the expansion of our airline liaison network overseas.
	These measures have had a significant impact both on deterring illegal immigration and reducing asylum intake.
	In our five-year strategy we announced our intention to further improve border controls through initiatives such as a further expansion of the asylum liaison network and the introduction of iris biometric automated gates at our major ports. Also, all visa applicants will be fingerprinted by 2008, and pre-boarding checks of all persons entering and leaving the UK will be introduced through the e-borders programme.

Postage

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on postage by the Department in each year since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The table provides the total cost of postage for the Home Department since 1997. The table also expresses the total as a percentage of Home Office spend for the relevant year.
	
		Postage costs
		
			  £ Percentage 
		
		
			 1997 1,166,810 0.018 
			 1998 1,076,196 0.013 
			 1999 1,228,042 0.015 
			 2000 1,819,914 0.020 
			 2001 3,049,765 0.03 
			 2002 2,713,405 0.026 
			 2003 2,653,684 0.025

Prisons

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instructional officers serving in Her Majesty's prisons are on the old contract; and in which prisons they serve.

Paul Goggins: As at 28 February there were 32 instructional officers on the old contract serving in the following establishments:
	
		
			 Establishment Number of instructional officers 
		
		
			 Belmarsh 1 
			 Channings Wood 1 
			 Maidstone 1 
			 Leyhill 1 
			 Huntercombe 1 
			 Featherstone 2 
			 Kingston 2 
			 Wandsworth 2 
			 The Mount 7 
			 Acklington 14

Prisons

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether instructional officers in Her Majesty's prisons who have not signed up to the new contract are required to carry out escort duties in any prison.

Paul Goggins: No. One of the new terms and conditions introduced on 1 April 2003 for instructional officers, was that instructional officers will escort prisoners as required by management once the activity has been risk assessed and a safe system of work applied". The terms and conditions for those instructional officers who decided not to accept the changes to working practices remain unchanged.

Prisons

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department
	(1)  how many prison places are planned for each of the next five years; and what the projected prison population is for each of the next five years;
	(2)  how much prison capacity he expects to be available in each of the next five years.

Charles Clarke: As at 18 February 2005, the useable operational capacity for the prison estate was 76,527. It is anticipated that the operational capacity will be around 76,700 at 31 March 2005 and has the potential to reach 79,500 by 31 March 2006. In addition, planning for a programme of an additional 1,300 places has started. In the meantime, we continue to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity over the coming years and keep the number of prison places required under review.
	Revised prison population projections were issued in January 2005. These new projections anticipate a prison population of between 76,500 and 86,000 in 2009. The National Offender Management Service will continue to monitor population movements, improve projections and keep prison capacity under review. Projected prison population for each of the next five years is presented in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 01/05 (Prison Population Projections 2005–11, England and Wales). A copy of this bulletin has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Prisons

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average amount of time spent on purposeful activity per week broken down by individual prison has been in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: The average number of weekly purposeful activity hours for each establishment during each of the financial years since 1996–97 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Establishment 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 to January 
		
		
			 Acklington 25.6 25.5 23.8 23.8 23.5 23.2 23.6 24.4 24.4 
			 Albany 18.8 24.0 23.8 19.2 23.5 24.2 21.6 22.2 20.6 
			 Altcourse n/a 24.6 20.5 25.5 32.9 34.3 32.7 34.4 36.8 
			 Ashfield n/a n/a n/a 24.0 28.3 27.1 25.7 29.3 31.1 
			 Ashwell 33.0 32.6 33.3 30.8 31.1 31.7 29.2 31.0 30.5 
			 Askham Grange 39.3 41.8 42.0 41.6 41.2 41.1 41.0 41.4 41.4 
			 Aylesbury 25.5 22.6 20.9 18.4 15.7 17.4 17.8 19.1 20.5 
			 Bedford 26.5 25.6 22.7 22.9 20.9 19.8 17.7 18.1 19.9 
			 Belmarsh 12.7 11.8 13.2 12.8 13.3 11.0 11.3 14.6 16.2 
			 Birmingham 12.8 10.9 13.3 15.2 16.0 19.3 19.9 18.8 18.2 
			 Blakenhurst 23.2 20.1 21.8 22.1 23.3 18.9 19.6 19.1 20.2 
			 Blantyre House 33.0 34.2 39.5 43.6 47.6 49.0 40.7 40.5 44.3 
			 Blundeston 21.7 23.2 25.8 24.5 26.2 25.8 23.1 21.9 24.9 
			 Brinsford 17.1 15.3 16.3 16.8 21.9 27.5 26.1 28.7 28.7 
			 Bristol 19.6 20.1 21.3 20.9 22.6 21.1 21.3 22.3 21.3 
			 Brixton 16.0 17.1 15.7 11.1 15.6 16.6 12.7 10.4 15.4 
			 Brockhill 31.4 30.7 21.1 18.2 20.8 18.2 16.1 18.1 23.1 
			 Buckley Hall 28.5 32.8 26.6 31.7 31.8 30.3 26.8 30.8 31.2 
			 Bullingdon 23.6 20.9 21.2 14.4 14.6 13.8 13.7 17.5 18.6 
			 Bullwood Hall 24.7 21.6 19.0 19.6 21.5 27.2 27.9 27.7 28.2 
			 Camp Hill 26.1 20.9 19.3 19.9 22.0 21.4 19.3 19.1 21.6 
			 Canterbury 20.6 17.5 18.5 19.9 19.6 18.0 17.4 21.9 22.1 
			 Cardiff 22.4 22.0 21.3 20.6 23.6 20.4 19.1 21.5 24.1 
			 Castington 22.3 23.4 20.7 19.8 24.6 25.1 21.9 22.9 28.0 
			 Channings Wood 25.3 29.6 30.5 34.9 33.6 33.5 31.2 28.6 27.5 
			 Chelmsford 18.2 16.0 15.8 16.8 18.2 18.8 15.4 15.8 19.5 
			 Coldingley 33.1 38.1 40.7 43.8 40.9 38.2 35.3 34.0 35.0 
			 Cookham Wood 24.9 23.6 22.3 24.4 24.2 22.0 23.0 22.5 25.4 
			 Dartmoor 19.4 18.8 18.9 19.9 18.0 21.6 20.9 23.3 24.8 
			 Deerbolt 21.7 21.7 19.9 21.1 21.4 21.1 19.9 20.5 23.1 
			 Doncaster 24.0 16.7 17.0 18.3 19.1 20.1 19.6 19.6 20.6 
			 Dorchester 19.3 16.2 14.4 19.5 17.2 15.7 18.2 17.6 16.3 
			 Dovegate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 27.5 25.7 25.5 21.6 
			 Dover 23.2 21.7 21.2 23.4 25.2 27.3 22.5 n/a n/a 
			 Downview 28.7 31.5 30.8 29.8 30.5 23.7 24.7 23.2 28.9 
			 Drake Hall 35.9 35.1 34.9 35.9 35.8 35.8 33.5 33.3 35.3 
			 Durham 17.6 16.7 20.2 18.7 19.8 20.3 19.1 18.0 17.7 
			 East Sutton Park 37.3 38.4 40.1 40.1 41.2 42.0 43.1 46.4 46.0 
			 Eastwood Park 21.7 19.7 21.6 21.6 23.6 19.4 18.8 17.9 18.6 
			 Edmunds Hill n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 21.0 26.1 
			 Elmley 19.8 19.0 20.2 21.8 21.6 18.6 18.6 20.6 19.0 
			 Erlestoke 28.4 29.0 27.2 28.4 26.8 27.9 27.1 25.5 26.6 
			 Everthorpe 23.5 25.8 27.0 26.3 27.1 28.0 31.6 28.1 25.1 
			 Exeter 18.9 17.9 13.6 15.0 23.0 22.9 21.6 22.5 23.2 
			 Featherstone 24.9 23.7 24.7 26.1 24.3 24.2 24.4 23.0 22.1 
			 Feltham 20.0 19.6 15.5 15.2 14.4 24.7 22.3 28.1 28.5 
			 Ford 34.6 33.7 35.6 38.8 38.3 39.8 39.4 37.6 38.1 
			 Forest Bank n/a n/a n/a 18.5 27.5 21.7 19.2 20.9 23.5 
			 Foston Hall — 21.3 23.4 25.7 25.4 25.4 25.3 24.5 24.1 
			 Frankland 18.1 17.0 18.4 19.4 21.3 20.9 21.6 22.2 21.9 
			 Full Sutton 22.1 18.0 17.6 18.7 17.8 17.4 16.8 19.0 19.8 
			 Garth 19.5 21.0 21.3 21.2 23.7 23.4 23.4 24.2 23.7 
			 Gartree 23.2 26.5 27.0 28.4 30.1 30.5 28.9 30.5 28.6 
			 Glen Parva 18.8 16.5 16.7 16.0 18.3 18.2 17.9 17.4 18.0 
			 Gloucester 22.7 20.6 26.4 29.4 29.5 20.5 16.2 20.2 20.2 
			 Grendon 32.1 33.3 34.2 35.2 37.2 35.6 33.4 32.5 31.6 
			 Guys Marsh 30.8 30.9 22.8 27.9 26.5 22.6 22.7 22.4 24.5 
			 Haslar 25.6 21.4 18.8 16.1 16.7 15.2 15.0 15.4 16.4 
			 Hatfield 39.5 37.2 32.5 40.6 36.7 37.1 38.4 n/a n/a 
			 Haverigg 35.0 33.8 33.9 33.8 33.6 31.1 30.4 29.9 29.3 
			 Hewell Grange 41.6 41.2 42.7 41.8 44.3 42.6 41.1 42.1 42.0 
			 High Down 17.5 15.7 13.9 16.4 15.8 15.9 14.1 15.2 14.4 
			 Highpoint 16.1 17.7 23.2 20.9 18.9 18.9 18.0 19.9 20.2 
			 Hindley 19.0 20.1 23.8 24.0 28.6 20.5 34.9 34.5 32.2 
			 Hollesley Bay 27.3 28.1 28.1 33.8 36.2 36.5 32.6 38.3 42.8 
			 Holloway 17.6 18.7 17.6 15.4 21.9 20.3 15.8 16.9 20.2 
			 Holme House 16.0 16.0 15.8 16.6 16.6 15.5 14.4 15.8 16.7 
			 Hull 20.6 18.6 20.1 22.5 21.9 20.5 15.3 15.8 16.0 
			 Huntercombe 25.6 25.1 23.8 26.3 23.9 26.7 26.5 30.1 30.0 
			 Kingston 28.1 28.6 23.S 23.9 24.2 24.3 23.3 25.1 26.0 
			 Kirkham 48.3 54.8 43.5 44.3 43.7 43.4 41.3 40.4 41.7 
			 Kirklevington 45.1 48.8 50.1 52.5 54.3 51.6 53.0 51.7 53.8 
			 Lancaster 22.6 22.7 20.7 23.2 28.7 24.9 22.9 23.7 25.7 
			 Lancaster Farms 23.1 22.4 20.5 20.6 22.5 22.6 23.3 26.1 25.8 
			 Latchmere House 72.2 72.8 70.2 74.1 63.6 61.2 55.6 57.6 59.4 
			 Leeds 16.8 15.5 14.8 14.5 16.5 18.7 17.5 18.1 21.7 
			 Leicester 21.3 21.4 20.5 19.3 19.0 21.0 21.4 23.1 23.2 
			 Lewes 22.2 18.5 18.5 18.8 18.0 18.6 19.5 21.0 21.6 
			 Leyhill 38.5 38.5 39.0 38.8 39.0 37.8 39.1 37.9 37.5 
			 Lincoln 18.1 19.6 22.9 24.9 24.5 18.6 18.3 19.3 20.9 
			 Lindholme 25.7 25.3 24.2 26.9 26.7 27.7 24.3 25.9 27.0 
			 Littlehey 30.6 29.8 26.0 25.5 23.5 23.1 21.5 20.2 20.5 
			 Liverpool 18.0 16.5 18.7 22.6 22.9 17.7 14.0 18.6 22.3 
			 Long Lartin 18.8 15.6 17.0 16.5 17.8 18.3 18.5 15.7 19.5 
			 Low Newton 23.7 21.7 20.2 25.5 25.1 23.7 23.9 24.6 24.9 
			 Lowdham Grange n/a n/a 25.3 24.7 24.0 27.2 27.5 26.8 26.8 
			 Maidstone 20.8 22.5 21.3 22.3 21.7 21.0 17.6 19.1 21.4 
			 Manchester 20.6 29.4 26.7 22.2 19.4 19.7 19.8 19.6 19.4 
			 Moorland 22.9 25.3 24.0 23.1 24.7 25.0 25.3 27.6 28.1 
			 Morton Hall 39.9 39.1 37.8 41.4 41.7 30.7 32.0 31.9 31.3 
			 Mount 19.2 18.4 18.0 18.6 18.3 20.0 19.7 20.4 21.8 
			 New Hall 26.8 22.9 23.8 23.1 23.5 22.9 24.1 23.5 24.9 
			 North Sea Camp 42.5 42.4 45.1 41.0 42.3 42.2 41.8 40.4 39.5 
			 Northallerton 16.3 14.7 14.S 17.6 18.8 22.1 23.3 22.3 24.9 
			 Norwich 15.1 18.1 18.0 19.2 20.0 18.9 17.4 17.9 21.6 
			 Nottingham 23.4 18.1 15.3 20.6 18.3 17.2 18.1 19.2 20.7 
			 Onley 20.5 20.0 18.4 17.4 18.6 18.0 23.0 28.1 26.3 
			 Parc n/a n/a 30.0 36.2 25.3 26.8 24.4 26.3 31.1 
			 Parkhurst 17.8 20.1 19.5 21.5 20.5 19.1 15.2 20.3 21.3 
			 Pentonville 17.8 19.6 20.3 20.4 17.8 15.0 14.1 14.1 13.1 
			 Portland 27.1 29.4 23.1 22.8 23.4 24.5 23.2 20.9 19.1 
			 Preston 20.5 17.4 17.1 16.8 21.6 21.1 19.8 21.1 20.9 
			 Ranby 29.3 30.2 26.4 25.8 25.4 23.6 24.1 25.1 25.4 
			 Reading 26.8 24.2 23.8 31.7 29.2 24.4 19.3 18.3 22.5 
			 Risley 23.8 22.7 21.9 22.3 23.8 25.2 22.7 23.7 24.3 
			 Rochester 20.7 18.7 19.1 17.5 21.5 23.0 22.7 20.2 23.1 
			 Rye Hill n/a n/a n/a n/a 26.0 29.4 28.5 28.5 27.5 
			 Send 34.0 35.1 40.6 31.6 31.7 31.4 30.0 30.6 29.9 
			 Shepton Mallet 25.5 23.7 22.7 20.7 23.6 23.0 23.5 24.6 24.4 
			 Shrewsbury 21.1 21.4 22.7 23.2 24.9 23.8 17.8 19.5 20.0 
			 Stafford 25.6 25.0 22.4 24.8 26.5 26.4 26.3 24.1 24.7 
			 Standford Hill 43.9 43.7 44.1 39.7 41.0 39.7 39.8 38.1 37.0 
			 Stocken 27.8 27.1 23.2 22.1 23.2 23.2 26.1 26.0 25.2 
			 Stoke Heath 27.9 21.6 21.6 22.5 24.4 25.8 20.4 21.8 23.2 
			 Styal 29.5 28.6 28.7 21.7 24.3 24.9 21.9 21.0 23.7 
			 Sudbury 46.2 47.2 44.5 43.4 41.7 41.5 42.0 42.0 41.3 
			 Swaleside 20.3 22.0 22.3 21.3 25.2 24.4 24.4 27.2 24.8 
			 Swansea 16.1 15.0 20.0 20.8 22.4 22.0 19.7 21.1 23.0 
			 Swinfen Hall 25.0 25.5 28.9 30.7 28.9 28.0 27.2 28.7 25.0 
			 Thorn Cross 50.5 50.3 50.3 45.3 42.7 43.9 42.7 42.8 43.3 
			 Usk·Prescoed 35.7 35.5 34.9 37.5 38.8 37.9 37.1 35.9 35.9 
			 Verne 30.6 30.9 27.2 30.9 27.6 28.4 31.6 30.9 31.4 
			 Wakefield 17.8 17.8 18.2 20.0 19.0 18.2 18.0 16.0 16.8 
			 Wandsworth 23.5 22.0 18.9 18.4 18.1 17.1 16.7 16.8 16.2 
			 Warren Hill n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 26.2 22.3 
			 Wayland 25.4 24.6 24.0 24.0 23.3 20.8 24.7 24.8 26.2 
			 Wealstun 35.9 33.7 30.6 32.9 32.8 32.6 32.5 33.0 29.5 
			 Weare n/a 19.6 20.8 20.7 19.9 18.8 17.8 18.6 19.9 
			 Wellingborough 26.2 25.1 24.9 25.0 25.3 28.1 25.0 22.6 22.6 
			 Werrington 38.7 36.5 24.0 37.9 37.1 32.6 30.1 27.3 30.0 
			 Wetherby 35.9 29.5 28.3 27.9 26.6 27.1 28.9 29.1 27.8 
			 Whatton 31.9 30.6 28.8 29.9 29.9 30.7 29.8 29.8 31.8 
			 Whitemoor 20.3 18.5 19.6 21.4 21.6 20.2 20.6 21.2 21.3 
			 Winchester 17.7 17.2 15.7 15.2 16.8 19.0 18.8 20.4 22.1 
			 Wolds 30.8 31.0 29.1 28.9 28.5 28.3 28.7 29.2 29.7 
			 Woodhill 22.6 20.9 19.8 17.9 17.6 16.0 16.2 15.4 16.0 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 14.4 13.6 14.2 19.3 21.3 18.5 14.6 18.4 22.2 
			 Wymott 33.7 34.4 28.7 29.8 27.3 27.7 28.3 30.9 28.4 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Moorland and Hatfield merged in 2003–04.
	2.Highpoint and Edmunds Hill began reporting separately in 2003–04.
	3.Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill began reporting separately in 2003–04.

Prisons

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition of purposeful activity in prison he uses.

Charles Clarke: The Prison Service definition of purposeful activity for 2004–05 consists of a list of 29 categories of activity undertaken by prisoners that are regarded as purposeful. Broadly these comprise work, education, training, programmes to tackle offending behaviour, resettlement activity and physical education. Prisons report the total weekly purposeful activity hours they deliver by these categories of activity. The categories of activity are listed in the following table.
	
		Purposeful activities
		
			 Activity group Activities Include: 
		
		
			 Education  
			 Induction Assessment Basic skills screening assessments 
			 Basic and Key Skills up to Level 2 All education categories can include private study or 'homework' by prisoners where this can be validated and an audit trail maintained 
			 Education leading to accreditation Education activity where prisoners are working towards a recognised qualification (but excluding education leading to basic skills qualifications categorised above) 
			 Skills training leading to recognised national accreditation Vocational construction and industrial training courses e.g. industrial cleaning, catering, motor mechanics, office skills, hairdressing, painting, construction, electrical 
			 Physical Education PE where physical education officers teach and supervise prisoners 
			 Other education Not categorised elsewhere, including library use of more than 30 minutes 
			 Work  
			 Prison maintenance work Support to works and maintenance staff around the prison 
			 Wing cleaning work Cleaning work on wings 
			 Other prison cleaning and orderly work Cleaning and orderly work around the prison other than on domestic wings 
			 Industries/ production workshops (Prison Enterprise Services Workshops on regime monitoring system) Employment in production or industrial workshops such as textiles tailors, laundries, plastics, woodwork contract services etc (Any workshop that is predominately production based) 
			 Agricultural business Employment in prison farms, market gardens 
			 Gardens amenity Employment on prison gardens 
			 Kitchen Preparation or serving of food in prison kitchens, hotplate/serveries or messes 
			 Other occupations Employment not categorised elsewhere, (e.g. clothing exchange store workers, administrative clerks, barbers, paid community work) 
			 Resettlement  
			 Induction Prison induction courses 
			 Maintaining safe and secure environment Primary objective of activity relates to institutional behaviour e.g. suicide awareness, anti bullying 
			 Sentence planning, parole interviews, other assessments with the prisoner not categorised elsewhere  
			 Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes (OBPs) Key performance indicator accredited courses 
			 Non accredited OBPs Any other programmes not categorised elsewhere 
			 Tackling substance abuse Interviews, assessments, individual or grouped drug or alcohol programmes, including counselling, assessment, referral, advice and throughcare services (CARATS) assessments 
			 IDPR Inmate development and pre-release training 
			 Other resettlement and offending behaviour activity not covered Probation, personal officer, PLU officer work. Job club and other employment advice. Accommodation advice or information. Specialist work, including probation or Citizens Advice Bureau 
			 Family, social Visits, earned community visits, compassionate licence 
			 Temporary release on resettlement licence Count up to eight hours a day if the time has not been categorised elsewhere. 
			 Other Purposeful Activities  
			 Health education clinics and promotion Including for example, well-man clinics and cancer awareness sessions but excluding medical treatment. 
			 Voluntary work Including sessions with external agencies not covered elsewhere 
			 Other facility licence not covered elsewhere  
			 Chaplaincy All faith religious activities including services, classes, pastoral visits and organised prayers. 
			 Recreational sporting activities Activities organised in addition to the establishment. PE programme and supervised by non-PE staff.

Prisons

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether private sector prisons have access to (a) the Quantum IT infrastructure and (b) the e-OASys offender assessment system.

Paul Goggins: Private sector prisons do not currently have access to the Quantum IT infrastructure, although they do have access to the strategic Inmate Information System, and its local component, the Local Inmate Database System (LIDS), alongside their own IT provision.
	In January 2005 limited access to the e-OASys offender assessment system was provided to all contracted establishments except HMP Wolds. It was not possible to provide this same level of access to HMP Wolds due to technical difficulties, but work in ongoing to rectify this problem.

Royal Family

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is his policy that exemption from registration should be granted for members of the royal family if compulsory registration were to be introduced.

Charles Clarke: Should compulsory registration for ID cards be introduced under the terms of the Identity Cards Bill currently before Parliament, Her Majesty the Queen would be exempt as the Bill is not binding on the Crown. Clause 41 of the Bill allows for exemptions and exceptions to be made in any order requiring compulsory registration. No decisions have yet been taken on what exemptions and exceptions may apply. Prior to any order requiring compulsory registration, people will register with the scheme when applying for documents such as passports which will be designated under powers contained within the Identity Cards Bill. Members of the royal family other than Her Majesty the Queen hold passports and would therefore join the scheme in the same way as members of the public.

Sham Marriages

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suspected sham marriages have been reported to his Department by registrars in each month since 1997; how many prosecutions have been brought; how many convictions have been obtained; and what penalties have been imposed.

Des Browne: Information is only available since section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 came into force requiring registrars to report suspicious marriages to the Immigration and Nationality Department (IND). In the last four years, IND has received the following number of reports:
	
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 January 22 75 110 364 166 
			 February 41 67 159 420 — 
			 March 57 76 210 458 — 
			 April 52 65 201 386 — 
			 May 94 95 176 329 — 
			 June 68 87 195 317 — 
			 July 67 109 242 239 — 
			 August 55 86 172 212 — 
			 September 68 107 260 250 — 
			 October 82 171 259 205 — 
			 November 78 140 323 183 — 
			 December 68 127 377 215 — 
			 Total 752 1,205 2,684 3,578 166 
		
	
	Since April 2002, over 110 individuals have been charged with a range of offences, including perjury, deception and conspiracy to defraud the Secretary of State. Data are not collected centrally on the number of prosecutions and convictions. There were at least 32 convictions last year in London and we understand that, where convictions have been obtained, sentences have ranged from six to 24 months.

Targets

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many targets have been set in each year since 1997 by the Department; and, of these, which have been (a) met, (b) nearly met, (c) not met, (d) changed and (e) dropped.

Charles Clarke: I refer to the answer given by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 75W.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Public Service Agreement target to reduce vehicle crime by 30 per cent. from 1998–99 levels by 2004 was met.

Hazel Blears: The latest annual British Crime Survey estimates for 2003–04 (published in July 2004) show a 30 per cent. reduction in vehicle crime against the baseline of 1999 (British Crime Survey 2000). We will know whether this target has been met when the British Crime Survey estimates for 2004–05 are published in July 2005.

Terrorism

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government have taken to combat the terrorist threat posed by United Kingdom citizens.

Charles Clarke: With the exception of the powers in Part 4 of the Anti- Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which are immigration powers applicable to foreign nationals, counter terrorism measures are aimed at terrorists, whatever their background, section of society or nationality they may come from.
	The Home Office provides the law-enforcement and security agencies with the powers and funding they need to do their job. There are two main pieces of legislation which they use to fight terrorism: the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 These Acts deliver UK-wide legislation that is effective in countering the threat we face from terrorism.The legislation includes measures to outlaw membership, support and fundraising for terrorist groups, seizure of terrorist cash and property, the creation of offences specific to terrorism at home and abroad, and special powers for terrorist investigations.
	The Home Secretary introduced on 22 February a Bill—The Prevention of Terrorism Bill which contains new proposals for preventative control orders which are intended to disrupt and restrict individual's involvement in terrorist related activities. We are also looking at the scope for new terrorist related offences and other measures to bring suspected terrorists to justice. My hope is that we will be able to bring further legislative proposals on this as soon as time allows.
	The Government have provided resources to finance a 50 per cent. increase in the size of the Security Service over the next three years. The bulk of these extra resources will go into counter- terrorism work. In 2005–06 dedicated ring fenced counter terrorism funding for the police service in England and Wales, including the Metropolitan police service, will amount to £96 million revenue and £8 million capital. This is very nearly double the amount of the first dedicated counter-terrorism grants in 2002–03.
	Combating the threat posed by terrorism does of course go beyond funding and legislation and it is important that we continue to build and develop partnerships at every level in accordance with our overall strategy—to prevent terrorism, to pursue terrorist networks, to protect the UK, its citizens and its critical infrastructure, and to plan for attacks in order to minimise their consequences. Our objective remains to reduce the threat from terrorism so that our people may continue to go about their business freely and with confidence.

Terrorism

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) British Retail Consortium and (b) the Institute of Grocery Distribution Emergency Planning Liaison Group have been invited to take part in terrorist incident response exercises; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 1 March 2005
	The Home Office runs a national programme of Counter Terrorist exercises to test the UK's response to terrorist incidents. Participation in these exercises by Government Departments, agencies and associated bodies depends on the content of the scenario for each exercise. To date, the scenarios have not required participation by these bodies. However, the Government is holding discussions on protective security with both the IGD and BRC.

Ticket Sales

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of convictions in 2004 for ticket touting at football matches.

Paul Goggins: Information from the Home Office court proceedings database shows that in 2003, 74 individuals were found guilty of ticket touting at football matches in accordance with section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which makes it an offence for an unauthorized person to sell, or offer or expose for sale, a ticket for a designated football match in any public place or place to which the public has access or, in the course of a trade or business, in any other place".
	Statistics on convictions for 2004 will be published this autumn.

Under-age Driving

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last reviewed penalties for under-age driving; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The available information is contained in the table and gives the number of juveniles convicted of offences involving driving a motor vehicle in England and Wales, 2003.
	Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
	
		Number of juveniles found guilty at all courts for offences involving driving a motor vehicle, England and Wales 2003(21)(5507500022)
		
			 Offence description Principal statute Found guilty 
		
		
			 Manslaughter by driving Common Law and Offences against the Person Act 1861 SS5, 9 and 10 10 
			 Causing death by dangerous driving Road Traffic Act 1988 S1 as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 S1 and CJA 1993S 67 11 
			 Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs Road Traffic Act 1988 S 3A as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 S3 and CJA 1993 S67 1 
			 Causing bodily harm by furious driving Offences against the Person Act 1861 S35 2 
			 Aggravated taking of a vehicle Theft Act 1968 S 12A as added by the Aggravated Vehicle Taking Act 1992 S1 1,684 
			 Theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle Theft Act 1968 S1 281 
			 Unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle or being carried knowing vehicle to have been taken or driven Theft Act 1968 S 12A as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 S37 2,987 
			 Aggravated taking of a vehicle Theft Act 1968 S 12A as added by the Aggravated Vehicle Taking Act 1992 S2 649 
			 Dangerous Driving Road Traffic Act 1988 S2 as amended by Road Traffic Act 1991 S2 799 
			 Driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs Road Traffic Act 1988 various sections 1,556 
			 Careless driving Road Traffic Act 1988 S4(1), 4(2) 618 
			 Accident offences Road Traffic Act 1988 S 170(4) 316 
			 Driving licence related offences Various sections under the Road Traffic Act 1988 , Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1996 Reg 16, Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 S 66(a), Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 S 27(3) 3,466 
			 Speed limit offences Various sections under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, Motor Vehicles (Speed Units on Motorways) Regs 1973, Parks Regulations (Amendment) Act 1926 216 
			 Motorway offences (other than speeding) Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 S 17(4), Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982 10 
			 Neglect of traffic directions Various section under the Road Traffic Act 1988, Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994 and Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 107 
		
	
	(21)These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(22)Juveniles being between 10 and 17 years old.

PRIME MINISTER

Government Strategies

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Prime Minister what (a) five-year strategies and (b) 10-year (i) strategies and (ii) plans his Government have published since 1997.

Tony Blair: Departmental strategies and plans are a matter for individual departments, and are available in the Libraries of the House.

Intelligence and Security Committee

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister for what reason details of the occasions and frequencies of meetings and visits of the Intelligence and Security Committee are not placed in the public domain; and if he will place such details in the public domain in the future.

Tony Blair: Details of the occasions and frequency of Intelligence and Security Committee meetings are a matter for the Committee, as is the decision not to place these details in the public domain.

Intelligence and Security Committee

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether he invited the Intelligence and Security Committee to visit the USA in February; whether he made proposals as to whom they should meet; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: No. Visits by the Intelligence and Security Committee are a matter for the Committee.

Intelligence and Security Committee

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister for what purpose he will meet the Intelligence and Security Committee on 7 March; what is to be discussed; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: Such meetings are confidential and it would be inappropriate to disclose details of the discussions.

Royal Wedding

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister whether he will be attending the civil ceremony for the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in his official capacity.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the press briefings given by my official spokesman on 23 February 2005. These are available on the Number 10 website.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Agency Workers Directive

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect of the Agency Workers Directive on the UK's labour market; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Regulatory Impact Assessments were undertaken on the original and revised draft Agency Workers Directive, including an assessment of the potential labour market effects. A copy of the latest Regulatory Impact Assessment has been placed in the House of Commons Libraries.
	The impact of the Directive on labour markets is clearly an important issue and we have sought to find a way forward on the Directive which all member states can accept, reflecting the diversity of labour markets across the EU and the need to protect workers without putting their jobs at risk.

Broadband

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the final report on the independent rates review was presented by the Government to the Broadband Stakeholders Group in November 2004; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: In practice the BSG and Government have taken this work forward together, in response to recommendations made by the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG). The Department appointed a contractor to carry out an independent review of the rating system as it applies to telecommunications.
	An interim status report based on this work was published on the BSG website in December 2004.

Broadband

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the Government asked the Broadband Stakeholders Group to review apparent disparities between the Valuation Office Agency's calculation method of business rates for BT in comparison with other telecom companies rating system; and if she will make a statement on the powers of the Broadband Stakeholder Group to require the production of information relevant to the review.

Mike O'Brien: In its second Annual Report, the Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) recommended that Government should review the current regime for property taxes in respect of their application to cable/duct infrastructure.
	In practice the BSG and Government have taken this work forward together. The terms of reference focused on the impact of business rating on investment rather than the method of calculation used for any individual company.
	The BSG have the same powers to require information as anybody else. In practice the Government and the BSG have been working closely together.

Businesses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry how many businesses ceased trading in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creations and closures includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 291,000 business closures in England and Wales in 2003, a 16 per cent. decrease on the year before. A further 249,000 businesses closed down in England and Wales in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 15 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003. Closure data are not available for the UK, regions, local authorities or parliamentary constituencies.
	DTI figures based solely on VAT de-registrations for Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside, the North East and the UK are shown in the table for 1997 to 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
	
		
			  Jarrow South Tyneside North East United Kingdom 
		
		
			 1997 95 165 3,885 148,230 
			 1998 70 130 3,850 149,115 
			 1999 90 150 3,870 153,400 
			 2000 100 180 3,760 156,440 
			 2001 90 160 4,035 152,840 
			 2002 110 195 4,035 163,920 
			 2003 95 180 4,010 174,355 
		
	
	Source:
	(South Tyneside, North East, United Kingdom): VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from: www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php
	Source:
	(Jarrow): Inter-Departmental Business Register, adjusted by Small Business Service to be consistent with published VAT Registrations and De-registrations
	VAT registration and de-registration data do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.

Businesses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new businesses have started up in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 700 business start-ups in South Tyneside (which contains part of the constituency of Jarrow) in 2003 and a further. 600 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 20 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003. Business start-up data for authorities and regions are not available for before 2003.
	Barclays data show that there were 1,300 business start-ups in Gateshead (which also contains part of the constituency of Jarrow) in 2003 and a further 1,000 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents no change on the first nine months of 2003.
	Barclays data show that there were 14,500 business start-ups in the North East in 2003 and a further 13,600 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 20 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003.
	Barclays data show that there were 445,000 (revised) business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003, a 16 per cent. increase on the year before. A further 396,000 businesses started up in England and Wales in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 14 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003.
	DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside, the North East and the UK are shown as follows for 1997 to 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Jarrow 105 100 95 100 100 125 95 
			 South Tyneside 190 195 190 170 180 220 210 
			 North East 4,155 4,175 4,235 4,280 4,090 4,310 4,640 
			 United Kingdom 185,950 184,770 178,450 179,585 168,445 175,700 189,890 
		
	
	Source:
	(South Tyneside, North East, United Kingdom): VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from the Library of the House and www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php.
	(Jarrow): Inter-Departmental Business Register, adjusted by Small Business Service to be consistent with published VAT Registrations and De-registrations.
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.

Credit Cards

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to impose a maximum interest rate for credit cards.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government have decided not to impose a maximum rate of interest for credit cards or indeed any other types of credit product. However we have committed to keeping the matter under review.

Direct Mail

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received concerning companies using misleading claims of a sweepstake win in direct mail advertising; and what discussions she has had with (a) Ofcom and (b) the Advertising Standards Agency in respect of such promotions.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I regularly receive representations about unfair trading practices which the Department discusses with enforcers and regulators as appropriate. I am therefore aware of the problems caused by bogus sweepstakes and prize draws which give the false impression that all recipients have won a substantial prize. These scams, which are estimated to cost UK consumers around £150 million of detriment a year, are a matter of concern. The Government therefore welcomes the decision taken by the European Parliament on 24 February to outlaw such scams as part of wider EU rules on unfair commercial practices to be adopted later this year. Prohibiting these practices in all 25 member states will ensure that more effective action can be taken against those scammers who locate themselves outside the UK in the hope of avoiding enforcement action being taken against them, including that available under Advertising Standards Authority's code of practice of advertising, sales promotion and direct marketing.

Employment Appeals Tribunal

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in how many (a) industrial tribunal cases and (b) appeals to the Employment Appeals Tribunal since 1997 the tribunal (i) decided and (ii) confirmed that a dismissal was unfair on the basis of the band of reasonable responses test.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The band of reasonable responses test is a fundamental test that is applied in cases of unfair dismissal that are brought before the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. However, the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) does not keep statistics on the number of tribunal cases and subsequent appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal that have been decided or confirmed as an unfair dismissal, on the basis of this test.
	The numbers of successful unfair dismissal employment tribunal cases are published each year in the ETS Annual Report which may be found on the ETS website at www.ets.gov.uk.

Inward Investment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs were created by inward investment in each region of the UK in each of the past 15 years.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 4 March 2004
	The figures in the table are based on information provided by companies at the time of' the announcement of the decision to invest in the UK. They are based on the companies best estimate of the number of new jobs associated with each investment.
	There is no requirement on companies to notify inward investment decisions to UKTI and so these new jobs figures relate only to those projects where UKTI or its regional partners were involved or which have come to their notice.
	
		
			 Region 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 
		
		
			 East Midlands 3,305 1,689 384 183 3,218 3,028 1,437 1,343 
			 East of England 300 445 491 363 482 842 372 925 
			 London 0 0 0 0 0 52 2,588 2,711 
			 North East 4,021 2,164 3,710 2,312 2,256 5,780 6,125 3,089 
			 North West 3,076 2,279 1,501 1,012 1,927 1,986 3,622 1,556 
			 Northern Ireland 1,956 923 364 2,742 3,030 3,251 3,741 4,135 
			 Scotland 7,828 5,637 3,884 4,497 7,335 7,678 9,092 9,928 
			 South East 780 805 1,156 1,212 916 3,248 5,385 3,775 
			 South West 545 580 2,190 265 1,065 1,386 1,718 2,304 
			 Wales 3,978 3,356 5,195 2,382 3,913 3,151 4,429 10,397 
			 West Midlands 7,237 4,618 1,892 1,588 3,370 4,797 7,074 4,350 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 2,971 1,260 1,656 1,265 2,329 3,152 1,764 1,887 
			 Total 35,997 23,756 22,423 17,821 29,841 38,351 47,347 46,400 
		
	
	
		
			 Region 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 East Midlands 1,686 2,096 675 2,020 803 1,314 1,982 
			 East of England 945 1,411 2,101 3,084 1,115 631 414 
			 London 2,948 4,135 7,230 7,991 3,858 2,344 2,572 
			 North East 2,764 2,304 3,479 . 4,959 2,788 4,648 .1,919 
			 North West 4,944 3,224 4,768 3,187 1,987 7,496 3,162 
			 Northern Ireland 3,357 3,345 2,353 4,906 1,554 787 1,496 
			 Scotland 7,688 6,447 10,728 9,314 6,623 3,599 1,632 
			 South East 5,534 4,497 6,236 18,150 4,981 3,971 2,901 
			 South West 3,205 3,008 4,814 4,109 933 653 2,147 
			 Wales 4,976 5,591 4,161 4,520 3,869 4,083 4,064 
			 West Midlands 5,641 5,483 6,458 4,867 5,307 2,369 2,391 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 2,874 3,626 1,362 4,061 1,541 2,729 934 
			 Total 46,562 45,167 54,365 71,168 35,359 34,624 25,614 
		
	
	Source:
	IIG Database
	Prior to 1994–95 figures for London were included in the South East figures.

Milk Industry

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the reasons are for the continuing interest of the Office of Fair Trading in the milk industry.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Under UK competition law, it is the responsibility of the Office of Fair Trading to investigate allegations of anti-competitive behaviour or possible abuses of a dominant position. Decisions concerning investigations are a matter for the Office of Fair Trading.

Regional Development Agencies

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers regional development agencies have to invest in and support investment in (a) transport infrastructure and (b) transport services; what restrictions apply to their powers; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: England's Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) may decide to invest in or support investment in regional transport initiatives, assuming such initiatives are consistent with the goals of the regional economic strategies for their regions. The Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 provides broad powers to RDAs to do anything which they consider expedient in pursuance of their statutory purposes, which include promoting economic development and regeneration in their regions and contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in the UK. In addition to their activities being subject to general requirements of the law, the Act places some specific restrictions on the use of such powers. RDAs may only give financial assistance to achieve their aims if the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry consents. Restrictions also apply to the disposal of land in certain circumstances and to the acquisition and use of housing by RDAs.

Solar Photovoltaics

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to ensure continuity of support to the UK solar PV industry when grant allocations under her Department's solar PV Major Demonstration Programme comes to an end later this year.

Mike O'Brien: The Major PV Demonstration Programme is due to end in March 2006. Grants are expected to be paid up to March 2007.
	The Department will continue its support for PV through a low carbon buildings" programme. The low carbon buildings programme is currently under development and there will be formal consultation on this later this year. The programme is expected to begin operating in 2006–07.

Solar Photovoltaics

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her Department's estimate is of the amount of solar photovoltaics installed in the UK in 2004.

Mike O'Brien: 1,900 kWp of photovoltaics was installed in 2004 with grants from the Major PV Demonstration Programme.

Solar Photovoltaics

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average annual change since 2002 in solar photovoltaic prices has been under her Department's solar PV Demonstration Programme.

Mike O'Brien: For stream 1 projects (small scale and individual installations) under the Major PV Demonstration Programme, the average cost of PV is: £7,035 per kWp in 2002–03; £6,826 in 2003–04 and £6,296 in 2004–05. This represents a reduction of 6.6 per cent. between 2002–03 and 2003–04 and 7.8 per cent. between 2003–04 and 2004–05.
	For stream 2 projects (medium and large installations) the averaged cost for PV is £6.871 per kWp in 2002–03 and £6,396 in 2003–04. This represents a reduction of 6.9 per cent. Data for 2004–05 is not yet available for stream 2 projects.

Sub-post Offices

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the sub-post offices in each area that have been redefined from (a) urban to rural classification and (b) rural to urban classification.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The classification of a post office branch as urban or rural is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). My officials have asked colleagues in POL to issue a direct reply to the hon. Member.

Sub-post Offices

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations her Department has launched with the active involvement of Post Office Limited on its definitions of sub-post office branch classification; and whether this information has been published.

Gerry Sutcliffe: None. The classification of a post office branch as urban or rural is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). My officials have asked colleagues in POL to issue a direct reply to the hon. Member.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Congestion Charge

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been spent on congestion (a) charges and (b) penalty charge notices by the Department since the commencement of the congestion charging scheme.

Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. Milburn) on 28 February 2005, Official Report, column 957W.
	Excluding Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) services, DFID only has one additional vehicle. This vehicle is exempt from paying congestion charges as it is registered with the Public Carriage Office; a licensed private hire company.

Food Aid

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the estimated amount of food aid required by the World Food Programme is; how much food aid has been distributed to (a) Zambia, (b) Zimbabwe, (c) Malawi, (d) Lesotho, (e) Mozambique, (f) Swaziland and (g) Angola during current food aid distribution programmes; and what further action his Department is taking to ensure the distribution of food aid.

Hilary Benn: Latest information from the World Food Programme (WFP) shows that from July 2004 until the end of January 2005, a total of 182,579 metric tonnes of food was distributed in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Angola. From 2005 until the end of December 2007, WFP has appealed for 656,000 metric tonnes of food to be delivered through its Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation. Angola is not part of this programme.
	DFID is currently providing funding for the WFP operations in Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Improving the monitoring and evaluation of food aid distribution and strengthening information systems to provide better data on food insecurity are priorities for DFID in the region. DFID support for food aid programmes in southern Africa will continue to be based on a careful assessment of needs, combined with a review of the most effective and efficient responses to food insecurity, which might sometimes include other forms of support such as seeds or cash.

St. Helena

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the length of runway required for an airport on St. Helena; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: A report by Atkins Management Consultants, which I sent on 9 November 2004 to the hon. Member and other parliamentary colleagues, identified three possible options to maintain future access for St. Helena. Two of them would require providing an airport, while the third would replace the existing ship. The report indicated that the airport options would entail total runway lengths of either 2000m or 2250m, both inclusive of runway end safety areas. Decisions will be announced, in consultation with the St. Helena Government, as soon as it is possible to do so.

St. Helena

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with Shelco regarding its proposal to build (a) an airport and (b) other infrastructure requirements on St.Helena; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: I met with Shelco representatives on 8 September 2004. There have also been discussions between Shelco and the St. Helena Government. All investor interest in St. Helena is welcome and will be considered on an equal footing.

St. Helena

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the level of public funding necessary to sustainSt. Helena in the next 10 years (a) without an airport and (b) with an airport; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of St. Helena's potential for earning income from tourism (a) without an airport and (b) with an airport; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the potential for St.Helena to attract tourists from (a) France, (b) the United States of America and (c) the United Kingdom if an airport is built on the Island; and what assessment he has made of the implications for UK support to St.Helena of an increase in tourism on the island.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Data of the kind requested, but not necessarily in this exact form, has been compiled for an analysis of three shortlisted access options which is under consideration. The outcome will be announced, in consultation with the St. Helena Government, just as soon as it is possible to do so. At that stage, in keeping with our previous practice for material prepared to shortlist the options, we shall consider publication as appropriate.

St. Helena

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much public funding has been made available to St. Helena in each year since 1997.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID bilateral disbursements for St. Helena in the financial years 1997–98 to 2003–04 were as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year £000 
		
		
			 1997–98 8,384 
			 1998–99 8,594 
			 1999–2000 9,185 
			 2000–01 9,968 
			 2001–02 9,833 
			 2002–03 9,343 
			 2003–04 10,419 
		
	
	St. Helena also receives some assistance from the FCO Good Governance Fund and FCO Economic Diversification Programme. Those disbursements were as follows:
	
		£000
		
			  Disbursements 
		
		
			 1997–98 211 
			 1998–99 163 
			 1999–2000 231 
			 2000–01 212 
			 2001–02 321 
			 2002–03 436 
			 2003–04 260 
		
	
	In addition, over the same period, allocations totalling some €14.35 million (around £9.5 million) were made to St. Helena by the European Commission (EC), of which the UK share was about 13 per cent. Disbursement of the EC allocations is on going.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Poverty

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to achieve the Government's targets of (a) ending child poverty by 2020 and (b) halving it by 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: holding answer 2 March 2005
	Our first step towards eradicating child poverty as set out in our current Public Service Agreement target is to reduce the number of children in low-income households by a quarter by 2004–05.
	The sixth annual Opportunity for all" report (Cm 6239), published in September 2004 is available in the Library and sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion; the Government's child poverty strategy is clearly outlined in the Treasury's Child Poverty Review published with the 2004 Spending Review.

Child Support Agency (Mr. Lovelace)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will personally take up with the Child Support Agency the case of Mr. Lovelace, a constituent of the hon. Member for Vale of York.

Chris Pond: My noble Friend the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis) will meet the hon. member to discuss the case of Mr. Lovelace.

Council Tax Benefit

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) of working age and (b) over state pension age have been in receipt of council tax benefit since 1997, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Chris Pond: The information is not available. Information on the number of people in receipt of council tax benefit is not held by constituency.

Disability Rights Commission

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the latest recommendations of the Disability Rights Commission with regard to employment are; and how his Department intends to implement them.

Maria Eagle: The Disability Rights Commission made a range of proposals and recommendations concerning employment in Disability Equality: Making it happen—First Review of the Disability Discrimination Act". The majority of these were implemented through the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 which came into force on 1 October 2004 and we indicated in our response to the commission's review that the remaining recommendations were for possible future consideration.
	The following table sets out the commission's proposals and recommendations concerning employment issues and the Government's position.
	
		Disability equality: making it happen—first review of the Disability Discrimination Act
		
			 DRC proposal Government position 
			 Disability Rights Commission Proposals  
		
		
			 The DDA should apply to practical work experience and to examining bodies Practical work experience and many types of examining bodies were covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. Note: The Disability Discrimination Bill currently before Parliament will bring general qualifications bodies within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act. 
			 The DDA should apply to constructive dismissal and to post-employment discrimination. Covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. 
			 It should be unlawful under the DDA for employers to instruct or pressurise other people to discriminate and DRC should be able to take action in such situations. Covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. 
			 The DDA employment provisions, which allow justification for failure to make a reasonable adjustment, should be removed. Covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. 
			 The definition of victimisation" currently in the DDA should be broadened. Covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. 
			 The Part 2 employment regulations in relation to reasonable adjustments to physical features should be amended. The provisions in the Employment Regulations about Approved Document M were revoked from 1 October 2004. 
			   
			 Disability Rights Commission Recommendations 
			 Employers should make reasonable adjustments in anticipation of having disabled employees. For possible future consideration. 
			 Less favourable treatment should only be justifiable where there is a genuine occupational requirement. For possible future consideration. 
			 Employment Tribunals should be able to recommend employers change their practices generally. For possible future consideration. 
			 Disability-related inquiries before a job is offered should be permitted only in very limited circumstances. For possible future consideration. 
			 The DDA should apply to volunteers. For possible future consideration. However, the Disability Rights Commission has been asked to produce a voluntary code of practice on volunteers. 
			 The DDA should apply to all statutory office holders, political office holders (including councillors), magistrates and school governors. Many office holders covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. The draft Disability Discrimination Bill documents outline our commitment to include local councillors. Note: The Disability Discrimination Bill currently before Parliament includes proposals to cover local councillors and the public office holders not covered by the DDA Amendment Regulations 2003 
			 The armed services should be covered by the DDA. This recommendation is rejected. Provision for the exemption of the armed forces was recognised in the Article 13 Employment Directive adopted in November 2000. Ministry of Defence are working on voluntary guidance for service personnel who become disabled. 
			 The reasonable adjustment duty should be extended to cover omissions to act. Covered in DDA Amendment Regulations 2003. 
			 Alter tribunal procedures so that tribunals order and fund a joint medical report. For possible future consideration.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Audit Board of the Administrative Commission on Social Security for Migrant Workers met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: I have been asked to reply.
	This body met once during each of these presidencies. Meetings were held on 11–12 November 2003 (Italian presidency), 7–8 June 2004 (Irish presidency), 17–18 November 2004 (Dutch presidency). Three officials from the Department attended the meeting during the Italian presidency and two officials attended the others. All meeting were in Brussels.

Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the total value of the guaranteed minimum pension accumulated since 1978 in contracted-out occupational pensions.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Pensions

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the Department of not reducing state pensions of pensioners who are hospital in-patients.

Malcolm Wicks: The estimated cost of not reducing state pensions of pensioners who are hospital in-patients is £23 million per year.
	Notes:
	1. The cost is in 2004–05 prices and rounded to the nearest £1 million.
	2. Estimates based on DWP 5 per cent. administrative data sample at 30 September 2003 and 31 March 2004.
	3. This cost takes no account of any changes in expenditure on any other benefit.

Pensions

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to amend (a) sections 101B and 101C of the Pension Schemes Act 1985 and (b) section 37 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999.

Malcolm Wicks: This legislation was introduced in December 2000 to enable couples to share the value of their pensions on divorce. It allows a former spouse to acquire a pension in her, or his, own right, providing security of income in retirement and a clean break settlement. Section 101C of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 in particular specifies that pension credit benefit paid under a pension sharing order in an occupational pension scheme must be paid from age 60 to 65. Each scheme sets its own normal benefit age within this range. We do not plan to change this.

Incapacity Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claimants left incapacity benefit at the (a) four month and (b) 12 month stage of their claim in each quarter since January 2003 in (i) pathways to work pilot areas and (ii) non-pathways areas.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 10 February 2005
	The information is in the table.
	People move off incapacity benefit for a variety of reasons. These include failing the Personal Capability Assessment, death, retirement, and because their condition improves and they either return to work or claim a different benefit.
	
		All incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance terminations in the quarters shown, by duration of claim and area
		
			  All 4 Months or less From 4 to 12 months More than 12 months 
		
		
			 Pathway to work areas 
			 February 2003 13,600 4,600 3,600 5,400 
			 May 2003 12,400 4,400 3,300 4,700 
			 August 2003 13,900 4,200 4,000 5,800 
			 November 2003 13,800 4,400 3,800 5,600 
			 February 2004 14,200 4,600 3,600 5,900 
			 May 2004 15,200 5,000 3,900 6,300 
			 August 2004 11,500 4,200 3,000 4,300 
			  
			 Non pathway areas 
			 February 2003 157,000 49,700 40,600 66,700 
			 May 2003 153,800 50,800 44,200 58,900 
			 August 2003 169,500 51,500 43,600 74,400 
			 November 2003 173,700 53,700 44,300 75,700 
			 February 2004 159,700 46,600 43,300 69,900 
			 May 2004 162,900 45,900 43,500 73,400 
			 August 2004 113,900 34,500 31,800 47,500 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Figures include all incapacity benefit, severe disability allowance and credits-only cases.
	3. The figures have been updated to include late notified terminations, including terminations for retirement pension. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total terminations for August 2003 increased by 34 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
	4. Pathways to Work programme commenced in three pilot areas in October 2003 and a further four in April 2004.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample.

Incapacity Benefit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of incapacity benefit were in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit only, (b) incapacity benefit in combination with each other benefit to which a claimant may also be entitled and (c) each other (i) benefit and (ii) combination of benefits to which a claimant may be entitled in each of the last five years; and what the average weekly level of benefit received by a claimant was in each case.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) severe disability allowance (SDA) claimants(23) with income support (IS), disability living allowance (DLA), housing benefit (HB), and council tax benefit (CTB), in Great Britain
		
			  May 
			  1999 2000 2001 
			 Benefit combination Caseload Average weekly amount (£ pw) Caseload Average weekly amount (£ pw) Caseload Average weekly amount (£ pw) 
		
		
			 IB/SDA(24) only 921,200 74.45 908,300 72.81 900,700 72.71 
			 IB/SDA(24) with IS only 632,700 88.05 656,800 91.05 687,600 95.22 
			 IB/SDA(24) with DLA only 518,800 127.26 511,200 128.01 519,400 130.79 
			 IB/SDA(24) with IS and DLA 476,800 161.70 499,500 165.35 535,600 173.28 
			 IB/SDA(25) with HB only 30,000 (26)— 20,000 (26)— 20,000 (26)— 
			 IB/SDA(25) with CTB only 50,000 (26)— 50,000 (26)— 40,000 (26)— 
			 IB/SDA(25) with HB and CTB 150,000 (26)— 140,000 (26)— 130,000 (26)— 
		
	
	
		
			  
		
		
			  May 
			  2002 2003 2004 
			 Benefit combination Caseload Average weekly amount (£ pw) Caseload Average weekly amount (£ pw) Caseload Average weekly amount (£ pw) 
			 IB/SDA(24) only 871,600 71.84 834,600 71.50 824,400 71.41 
			 IB/SDA(24) with IS only 683,500 96.17 681,000 99.08 662,000 99.61 
			 IB/SDA(24) with DLA only 538,800 131.94 552,600 132.78 563,500 134.39 
			 IB/SDA(24) with IS and DLA 552,900 166.23 590,600 170.53 606,700 171.89 
			 IB/SDA(25) with HB only 20,000 (26)— 20,000 (26)— (26)— (26)— 
			 IB/SDA(25) with CTB only 40,000 (26)— 40,000 (26)— (26)— (26)— 
			 IB/SDA(25) with HB and CTB 120,000 (26)— 120,000 (26)— (26)— (26)— 
		
	
	(23) Includes Credit only cases, except where stated (see (24) ).
	(25) Working age claimants are men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59. Excludes a small number of claimants over State Pension Age (almost all SDA claimants).
	(26) HB/CTB figures cover IB/SDA recipients only, i.e. do not include Credits only cases.
	(27) Signifies information not available; (see notes)
	Notes:
	1. Figures refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	2. Due to the estimation procedure to produce the figures for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and the collection procedures in Scotland, HB/CTB figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. All other working age caseloads are rounded to the nearest 100.
	3. Average weekly amounts are not available for HB/CTB recipients where overlaps are removed.
	4. Council tax benefit cases exclude any Second Adult Rebate cases.
	5. Housing benefit cases exclude Extended Payment cases.
	6. Figures refer to where the claimant and/or partner are aged in receipt of the relevant benefit.
	7. May 2003 is the most recent data available for HB/CTB.
	8. Average amounts refer to the combined amount of the benefits listed and are rounded to the nearest penny.
	Sources:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. Working Age Client Group sample.
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 1999 to 2003.

Pension Credit

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the effect on the number of pensioners in receipt of pension credit in 2009–10 of linking the basic state pension to earnings from 2006–07 onwards.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 28 February 2005
	If the basic state pension was uprated in line with earnings from 2006–07 onwards and the savings credit threshold was increased in line with prices as now, 150,000 fewer benefit units would be in receipt of pension credit by 2009–10. If the savings credit threshold was increased in line with the increase in the basic state pension about 250,000 fewer benefit units would be in receipt by 2009–10.
	Notes:
	1. The figure is rounded to the nearest 50,000 to account for the large potential margin for error in the estimate.
	2. Overall pensioner incomes are assumed to rise in line with average earnings.
	Source:
	Figures are calculated using the department's policy simulation model and the family resources survey 2002–03 projected forward to 2009–10

Pension Credit

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the largest possible entitlement for the savings credit element of pension credit has been in each year since its introduction; and what the projection is for each of the next five years on the assumption that the guarantee credit grows in line with earnings and the savings credit grows in line with prices.

Malcolm Wicks: The following table sets out the maximum entitlement to the savings element of pension credit payable for single people and couples for the financial years 2003–04 to 2009–10. The figures for the years 2003–04 to 2005–06 are the actual maximum entitlements to the savings element payable for those years. The figures for subsequent years are estimates based on the assumptions set out in the notes to the table.
	
		Maximum amounts of the savings element of pension credit
		
			 Financial year Maximum savings element-single people Maximum savings element-couples 
		
		
			 2003–04 14.79 19.20 
			 2004–05 15.51 20.22 
			 2005–06 16.44 21.51 
			 2006–07 18.42 24.42 
			 2007–08 20.34 27.27 
			 2008–09 22.29 30.12 
			 2009–10 24.33 33.15 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are in line with current uprating policy. The Chancellor announced in the pre-Budget report that the guarantee element of pension credit would be uprated in line with earnings over the current spending round (to 2007–08). The savings credit threshold is currently equal to the maximum rate of basic state pension and is assumed to rise in line with prices.
	2. The estimates for the financial years 2006–07 to 2009–10 are based on the 2004 pre-Budget report assumptions for average earnings growth and growth in the retail price index.

Social Security Payments (Pensioners)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the interaction between pension credit and other social security payments for (a) those in residential care homes and (b) those not in residential care.

Malcolm Wicks: The policy on charging for residential care is the responsibility of health departments. The current financial assessment for residential care takes account of an individual's income, including benefit income, leaving each resident with a personal expense allowance. Pension credit, which may include an amount of savings credit, is taken into account in the council's financial assessment. For those individuals in receipt of the savings credit, they are left with the amount for personal expenses and in addition receive a savings credit disregard. For individuals living in their own homes and being financially assessed for home care and their non-residential care services, the savings credit is fully disregarded.
	Payment of attendance allowance (AA) and disability living allowance (DLA) stops after four weeks residence in a care home, except where a resident can meet the full cost without help from a local authority or other source of public funding (other than payments for free nursing care), as this does not affect payability of AA/DLA for self funders. The mobility component of DLA can continue in payment because care home costs do not cover mobility needs. Pension credit recipients who have been in a care home for 13 weeks or more at the end of the specified qualifying week are not eligible for a winter fuel payment.

State Pension

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women have had no (i) own-rights or (ii) own or spouse rights entitlement to the basic state pension because they did not have the minimum of 25 per cent. of qualifying years in each of the last 20 years.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 4 March 2005
	The information is not available in the format requested. However, the information in the table shows the number of men and women in receipt of either or both graduated retirement benefit and additional state pension who do not receive any basic state pension.
	
		
			 As at March: Men Women 
		
		
			 1985 3,000 172,500 
			 1986 2,800 164,200 
			 1987 (28) 2,900 175,700 
			 1988 3,100 176,000 
			 1989 3,200 177,300 
			 1990 (28) 3,600 180,000 
			 1991 3,800 176,800 
			 1992 4,100 157,200 
			 1993 4,200 151,100 
			 1994 4,500 144,600 
			 1995 5,000 138,900 
			 1996 5,800 128,600 
			 1997 6,600 118,300 
			 1998 7,300 112,200 
			 1999 7,700 103,700 
			 2000 8,300 98,100 
			 2001 9,100 95,500 
			 2002 10,100 91,000 
			 2003 11,600 85,800 
			 2004 13,300 83,000 
		
	
	(28) September
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are taken from a 10 per cent, sample prior to March 1995 and a five per cent, sample after March 1995 and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. Figures include overseas cases.
	4. A basic state pension is paid to those who fully or partially satisfy the contribution conditions for a Category A or Category B basic state pension, either in their own right or, where applicable, on the basis of their spouse's or former spouse's National Insurance contributions.
	Source:
	IAD Information centre 10 per cent., sample prior to March 1995 and a five per cent., sample after March 1995. Figures are as at 31 March or 30 September for the years shown.

State Pension

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) men and (ii) women who will fail to meet the minimum of 25 per cent. of qualifying years for a basic state pension in (A) each of the next five years, (B) 2010, (C) 2030, (D) 2040 and (E) 2050; and what estimate he has made of the (1) net and (2) gross cost for each of these years of the requirement for a minimum of 25 per cent. of qualifying years entitlement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of paying pensions under reciprocal agreements to people in other countries who would build up an entitlement to the basic state pension if the 25 per cent. rule on the number of qualifying years were to be removed in (a) each of the next five years, (b) 2010, (c) 2030, (d) 2040 and (e) 2050.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 4 March 2005
	The information is not available in the format requested. However, as at March 2004, there were 13,300 men and 83,000 women in receipt of either or both graduated retirement pension and additional state pension who did not receive any basic state pension. This accounted for less than 1 per cent. of total recipients of state pension.
	The additional gross cost would be around £95 million in 2004–05 if those people were treated as having at least nine qualifying years for entitlement to a basic state pension. On the same assumption, approximately £5 million of that sum relates to pensioners living overseas outside the European economic area in a country with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement to uprate state pensions.
	Notes
	1. This cost is provided by the Government Actuary's Department and assumes a full national insurance record for at least nine years.
	2. The available data is an extract based on those in receipt of benefits in Great Britain and overseas. There is not sufficient information available on contribution records to provide a more comprehensive estimate, neither is sufficient information available to estimate the net costs.
	3. It is also expected that large numbers of overseas cases with a small number of contribution years could become entitled to the basic state pension.
	4. The estimate for pensioners living overseas does not include the additional costs of paying basic state pensions to those with less than 25 per cent. qualifying years who live in the European economic area.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to reduce the inequalities between the level of development achieved by children in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged areas and the rest of England by 2008 will be met.

Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
	The target for 50 per cent. of children to reach a good level of development was set in July 2004. It is based on the 2003 Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) results and data from Sure Start local programmes. It is provisional as the 2003 FSP data were published as 'experimental statistics'. FSP data for 2004 will be published on 17 March , and for 2005 later this year. At this point we will be able to confirm the target and establish the baseline against which progress towards the target can be assessed.

Vibration White Finger

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the implications for claims for (a) disablement benefit and (b) reduced earnings allowance from those suffering from vibration white finger of proposals for changes in the prescription of the disease made by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council.

Jane Kennedy: The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published its report on Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome in July 2004. The principal recommendation was that the terms of prescription for PD A11 (Vibration White Finger) be extended to include sensorineural symptoms, in addition to the existing vascular symptoms. The recommendations in that report were fully accepted. Revised regulations to implement the report should be introduced this summer.
	It is hard to be accurate about how many claims will be made, or how many people will benefit, as a result of the changes. Provisional estimates are that over 60,000 new claims may be made, though the number who will actually receive benefit may be small in relation to the total number of claims.
	People claiming as a result of this extension to prescription will not be entitled to reduced earnings allowance (REA). This is because a person cannot be entitled to REA where the prescription for that disease is extended on or after 10 October 1994. This is the effect of The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, Schedule 7, paragraph 11(1).

Winter Fuel Payment

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many people became newly entitled for the 2004–05 winter fuel payment who would need to claim the payment; and how many claims have been received from such people.

Malcolm Wicks: We estimate that approximately 700,000 individuals in Great Britain reached age 60 in the qualifying period for the 2004–05 winter fuel payment. About half of these have been paid automatically but others, who are not in receipt of certain benefits, will need to make a claim. By 25 February, 351,894 claim forms had been received.

HEALTH

Asian Bird Influenza

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which streams of Asian bird influenza pose a threat to the UK; and which vaccines he is stockpiling to protect against possible outbreaks of flu.

Melanie Johnson: Highly pathogenic forms of avian influenza type A viruses are of most concern as these are known to have caused infections in people. Of these, A/H5N1, A/H7N7 and A/H9N2 have caused outbreaks of infection in the past five years. Because of their potential to adapt to become more transmissable to humans, or to exchange genes with a human influenza virus to produce a completely novel virus capable of pandemic spread, all pose a threat.
	There is as yet no vaccine available for the prevention of the disease. The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control has secured an isolate of the current avian influenza virus strain and has produced a candidate vaccine virus using reverse genetics" technology for use should this be required. We are working closely with other countries, the World Health Organisation, the European Commission and manufacturers to ensure that a vaccine can be developed as quickly as possible once a pandemic flu strain emerges.

Asian Bird Influenza

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he is taking to prepare for a possible outbreak of avian flu; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: On 1 March, we published the United Kingdom health departments' influenza pandemic contingency plan, together with an announcement of our plans for procurement of antivirals. This puts the UK in the forefront of international preparedness for a possible flu pandemic. The document is on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu.

Asian Bird Influenza

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken by his Department to protect against possible mutations of the avian flu virus; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 28 February 2005
	There is no confirmed evidence of person-to-person spread of avian influenza in South-East Asia. Guidance for the national health service on the detection, diagnosis and treatment of potential cases of avian flu has been prepared by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), in collaboration with the Department, and is published on the HPA's website at www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/avianinfluenza/menu.htm.
	In response to outbreaks of avian influenza in South-East Asia, the European Commission has imposed a ban on the importation of birds of all species from affected areas until December 2005.
	On 1 March, we published the United Kingdom health departments' influenza pandemic contingency plan, together with an announcement of our plans for procurement of antivirals. This puts the UK in the forefront of international preparedness for a possible flu pandemic. The document is on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu.

Breast Cancer Screening

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of women aged (a) 50 to 64 and (b) 65 to 70 years have been screened for breast cancer on the NHS in (i) England, (ii) each strategic health authority and (iii) each primary care trust in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: Information requested since strategic health authorities and primary care trusts were established in 2002 has been placed in Library.

Courses (Transport Costs)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the provision of assistance with transport costs to mature students attending NHS sponsored courses at university; what other support is available to those who live outside areas identified for assistance with transport costs; and if he will list for each midwifery course sponsored by the NHS the areas within which assistance with transport costs is available.

John Hutton: holding answer 21 February 2005
	The provision of travelling expenses for mature students attending courses at university is a matter for national health service employers locally. Information about travelling costs is not held centrally.

Defibrillators

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost is per usage of NHS defibrillators located in non-NHS premises, including capital cost amortisation over the estimated useful lifetime of the equipment.

Melanie Johnson: It is difficult to give an accurate estimated cost per usage, as the total life expectancy of the automated external defibrillators that are currently in use is not known.
	The current cost, with 303 defibrillator deployments, works out at accrued cost of £4,950 per deployment, but this does not take account of the lifespan of the defibrillators.
	Therefore:
	For five years life expectancy, current data suggests there would be 440 deployments at a cost of £3,409 per deployment.
	For seven years life expectancy, current data suggests there would be 616 deployments at a cost of £2,435 per deployment.
	For 10 years life expectancy, current data suggests there would be 881 deployments at a cost of £1,702 per deployment.

Dentistry

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress made towards implementing a dental NHS IT system.

John Hutton: holding answer 2 March 2005
	Work is progressing to finalise definition of the functional requirements for clinical information technology (IT) systems in both primary and secondary care to link to the national programme for information technology in the national health service. The requirements for primary care dental IT will be informed by the new contractual arrangements for primary care dentistry, which will be implemented by April 2006.

Departmental Estate

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acres of vacant, dormant, unused and under-utilised land are owned by his Department; and if he will estimate the number of homes that could be built on the land if it was made available.

John Hutton: holding answer 3 March 2005
	The majority of surplus land remaining in the ownership of the Secretary of State for Health is included in a transfer of land and property to English Partnerships (EP). This transfer, which was announced in April 2004, will assist the Government's sustainable communities plan. Around 1,650 hectares of land will transfer to EP and it is estimated that this has the capacity to provide around 15,000 homes.

Diagnostics

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of excess unused capacity within the NHS for diagnostic services;
	(2)  whether primary care trusts will have the choice of whether to purchase services under the new purchasing contract for diagnostics services.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 February 2005
	Primary care trust's (PCT) capacity planning identified the need for significant increases in diagnostic capacity to meet the 18-week waiting time target. For example, the number of scans required will need to increase from 6.4 million in 2004–05 to 8.9 million in 2008.
	This additional capacity is required quickly and I believe that the independent sector is well placed to provide some of this capacity. That is why we announced the procurement of £1 billion over five years, which includes one million scans annually. This still leaves significant growth for the national health service.
	The Department has been working with strategic health authorities and PCTs to develop specific proposals for the procurement, choosing what they wish us to purchase for them. Since PCTs have identified these requirements, we expect all of them use the services that will be provided from the procurement.

Doctors (Training)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pre-registration training places there have been for doctors in England in each year since 1980.

John Hutton: The number of medical pre-registration house officers in England in each year since 1980 is shown in the following table.
	
		Hospital, public health medicine and community health services—medical pre-registration house officers: as at 30 Septembereach year
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1980 2,654 
			 1981 2,716 
			 1982 2,710 
			 1983 2,826 
			 1984 2,773 
			 1985 2,838 
			 1986 2,813 
			 1987 2,790 
			 1988 2,862 
			 1989 2,944 
			 1990 3,018 
			 1991 3,056 
			 1992 3,041 
			 1993 3,086 
			 1994 3,019 
			 1995 3,224 
			 1996 3,217 
			 1997 3,356 
			 1998 3,447 
			 1999 3,543 
			 2000 3,641 
			 2001 3,685 
			 2002 3,953 
			 2003 3,969 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.

Down's Syndrome

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been provided for research into Down's syndrome (a) in total and (b) with specific reference to brain development in each year since 1997–98; and what plans he has to support further such research.

Melanie Johnson: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology.
	The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service.
	Both the MRC and the Department are currently supporting research into Down's syndrome. Past expenditure on such research is shown in the table.
	
		£000
		
			  MRC Department of Health research programmes(29) 
		
		
			 1997–98 352 531 
			 1998–99 143 611 
			 1999–2000 164 522 
			 2000–01 245 380 
			 2001–02 470 67 
			 2002–03 431 70 
			 2003–04 (30)— 111 
		
	
	(29) Includes expenditure on projects partly but not wholly related to Down's syndrome.
	(30) Not yet available.
	An analysis of expenditure that separately identifies the part of Down's syndrome research costs attributable to work on brain development is not available.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of completed and ongoing projects, including a number concerned with Down's syndrome, can be found on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee (i) for the implementation of the Community action programme for the prevention of AIDS and certain other communicable diseases and (ii) on the action programme on rare diseases in the framework of the action plan for public health met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Committee for the implementation of the Community action programme for the prevention of AIDS and certain other communicable diseases and the committee on the action programme on rare diseases in the framework of the action plan for public health did not meet during the Italian, Irish or Dutch presidencies.
	I refer the hon. Member to the series of Command Papers on prospects for the EU—Cm6174 laid in April 2004, Cm6310 laid in September 2004 and Cm6450 laid in February 2005, which cover the periods of the above presidencies and are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website at: www.fco.gov.uk/commandpapers.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee for the implementation of the Community action plan to combat cancer met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: This committee has been disbanded. It last met in 2002. It was set up to advise on the Europe Against Cancer programme which was completed in December 2002. It is not known where the committee met.

Gynaecology

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many women were given hysterectomies in an NHS hospital in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what steps are being taken to ensure that women who, with clinical support, request a less invasive treatment as an alternative to hysterectomy receive their treatment of choice on the NHS; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many NHS trusts offer access to a multidisciplinary team including gynaecologists and an interventional radiologist to diagnose and treat uterine fibroids as recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence;
	(4)  what guidance is given to NHS trusts on the use of uterine artery embolisation for fibroids.

Melanie Johnson: There were 49,600 hysterectomy operations (OPCS4 codes Q07, Q08) performed in national health service hospitals, England in 2003–04.
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued revised full guidance on fibroid embolisation in October 2004; this is available on its website at www.nice.org.uk. NICE decided that the procedure is safe and that most patients have improved symptoms. However, NICE considers that more information is needed about how well it works, how long it works for and how it affects a woman's ability to become pregnant.
	Once NICE guidance is published, health professionals are expected to take it fully into account when exercising their clinical judgement. However, NICE guidance does not override the individual responsibility of health professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer.
	Decisions about patterns of services delivery are a matter for individual health authorities and trusts to determine locally, taking into account local population needs, priorities and resources. We do not, therefore, collect information on this centrally.

Health Services (Burnley)

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been made available for frontline health services in Burnley in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The tables show the revenue allocations made to East Lancashire Health Authority (HA) between 1996–97 and 2002–03 and Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust (PCT) between 2003–04 and 2007–08.
	
		Revenue allocations to East Lancashire HA: 1996–97 to 2002–03
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 1996–97(31) 230,808 
			 1997–98(31) 240,684 
			 1998–99(31) 253,100 
			 1999–2000(31) 349,892 
			 2000–01(31) 384,249 
			 2001–02(31) 416,738 
			 2002–03(31) 461,132 
		
	
	
		Revenue allocations to Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT: 2003–04 to 2007–08
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 2003–04(31) 241,264 
			 2004–05(31) 264,963 
			 2005–06(31) 289,574 
			 2006–07(32) 339,612 
			 2007–08(32) 371,238 
		
	
	(31) Between 1996–97 and 2002–03, revenue allocations were made to HAs. From 2003–04, revenue allocations were made to PCTs. Therefore, it is not possible to compare the allocations made prior to 2003–04 with those made from 2003–04 as they were made to different organisations. Unified allocations covering hospital and community health services (HCHS), prescribing and general medical services cash limited allocations were first made in 1999–2000. Therefore, the allocation figures from 1999–2000 are not comparable with previous years which cover HCHS only.
	(32) Allocations for 2006–07 and 2007–08 are not directly comparable with previous years because there have been significant baseline changes since the last allocations round—for example, devolution of £5 billion funding for general practitioners—which inflate the increases.

Health Services (Burnley)

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been made available for improving buildings in Burnley for (a) general practitioner practices, (b) East Lancashire Acute Trust, (c) Burnley General Hospital and (d) other health services in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the net book value of purchased capital additions (buildings, dwellings and transfers from assets under construction) for the East Lancashire hospitals national health service trust and its predecessor trusts.
	
		£000
		
			  Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley health care NHS trust Burnley health care NHS trust East Lancashire hospitals NHS trust 
		
		
			 1997–98 1,733 1,231 n/a 
			 1998–99 9,074 7,341 n/a 
			 1999–2000 1,460 6,838 n/a 
			 2000–01 2,108 1,787 n/a 
			 2001–02 7,432 2,430 n/a 
			 2002–03 2,390 8,577 n/a 
			 2003–04 n/a n/a 4,350 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures in the table do not include private finance initiative (PFI) expenditure where PFI costs are revenue expenditure in the books of NHS bodies.
	2. Capital investment will vary between years owing to the investment decisions at individual NHS bodies.
	Sources:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the East Lancashire hospitals NHS trust 2003–04.
	Audited summarisation schedules of the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley health Care NHS trust and the Burnley health care NHS trust 1997–98.

Heat-related Illnesses

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has made for combating the health effects of increasing levels of UV radiation due to the decline in cloud cover and ozone depletion.

Melanie Johnson: The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) has carried out ultra violet (UV) measurements of solar UV in the United Kingdom and these have shown a small upward trend. However, the data are still being analysed and may be within experimental uncertainties. The incidence of skin cancer, due to UV exposure is rising in most middle latitude countries. This is attributed to behavioural factors (sunbathing, holidays in the sun etc.) and not changes in the intensity of incident ultra violet radiation or other meteorological factors.
	The SunSmart" campaign is funded by the Department and run by Cancer Research UK and seeks to educate people about the dangers of excessive exposure to UV and gives simple steps to avoid the harm. The messages would be equally valid and useful and possibly even more necessary, should UV levels in the UK rise because of meteorological changes.

HIV/AIDS

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual cost of treating an AIDS patient in England was in the last year for which figures are available.

Melanie Johnson: The Government do not routinely collect data on the cost of treating AIDS patients.

Hospices

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral answer by the Prime Minister on Wednesday 23 February 2005, Official Report, column 305, what proportion of the sum of £50 million has to date been allocated to hospices; and if he will list the hospices concerned.

Melanie Johnson: Reports on the use of the £50 million central budget for specialist palliative care in 2003–04 have been received from 32 of the 34 cancer networks. The remaining two networks received their allocations later than the others and were not included in the 2003–04 data collection exercise. The 32 networks received a total of £45.83 million and £38.38 million of this amount was spent in-year on specialist palliative care. £24.74 million (53.98 per cent. of the allocation) was used to support voluntary sector services, mostly hospices.
	Investment plans for the use of the £50 million were developed by cancer networks in consultation with local stakeholders, including those in the voluntary sector. Decisions on which voluntary sector organisations should be allocated funding were made locally and this information is held at cancer network level.

Hospital Infections

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state what powers NHS matrons have to withhold payment to cleaning service providers.

John Hutton: Guidance issued to the national health service emphasises the importance of involving nurses in setting up cleaning contracts and monitoring standards. Matrons have the power to instigate a process whereby payment can be withheld if cleaning standards are not maintained.

Illegal Cigarettes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the health implications of trade in illegal cigarettes.

Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has received representations from ASH and other health groups raising concerns that the availability of cheap illegal tobacco is undermining the Government's tobacco control strategy, particularly the use of high duty rates to discourage people from smoking. Smuggled tobacco has meant a continuing supply of cheap tobacco, often targeted on areas of deprivation.
	This is why the Government, in Tackling Tobacco Smuggling," published in March 2000, has set challenging targets for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to reverse the growth in tobacco smuggling. As a result, in the first four years of the strategy, the total number of cigarettes smuggled into the United Kingdom each year has been reduced by over five billion, a reduction of over a third.

Infectious Diseases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the delay in publishing guidance based on the recommendations of the Department's working group on healthcare workers and infectious diseases.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 28 February 2005
	In developing guidance on the health clearance of new health care workers for serious communicable diseases, it has been necessary to take into account the Cabinet Office review of imported infections and immigration, which has been considering the impact of immigration on public health and relevant issues, including health screening.
	Guidelines will be published by the summer.

Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether the Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust has received the additional £5 million allocated after the external review of services in 1999;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust's financial position; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the impact on services at the Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust of its financial deficit.

Melanie Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 21 February 2005, Official Report, columns 161–62W.

Malnutrition

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many elderly people were diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition in (a) Greater London, (b) each London borough and (c) England in each year since 2002–03.

Stephen Ladyman: In 2002–03, eight London residents aged 65 years or more were admitted to hospitals and diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition. In 2003–04, the number was 11. The corresponding figures for England are 112 and 116 respectively. Figures for individual London boroughs are not available.

Meat Hygiene

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures the Meat Hygiene Service has put in place to ensure that trade union health and safety representatives can inspect all premises on which Meat Hygiene Service staff work.

Melanie Johnson: I am advised that the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) has no legal basis upon which to authorise its appointed Unison trade union safety representatives to enter or inspect licensed fresh meat premises which are owned by a third party, and in which MHS staff are deployed. In partnership with Unison, the MHS has pursued this matter with the Health and Safety Executive and legal advisers, including seeking voluntary access agreements with industry representative bodies. The MHS understands that some plants have agreed access on this basis. However, as it stands, and pending any future changes to the relevant health and safety legislation, there is no further action that the MHS can take. Unison representatives were advised accordingly in January 2003.

Meat Hygiene

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what facilities the Meat Hygiene Service makes available to its inspection staff at meat plants to ensure that staff can store foodstuffs and consume meals and other refreshments in a clean, safe and hygienic environment;
	(2)  what facilities the Meat Hygiene Service makes available to its inspection staff to (a) wash, (b) shower and (c) ensure personal hygiene and cleanliness, in line with the MHS zoonosis risk guidance, when undertaking their duties at meat plants.

Melanie Johnson: I am advised that the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) enforces the provisions of the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 (as amended); the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 (as amended); and the Wild Game Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995; which require that adequate facilities" are provided by plant operators to enable MHS inspection staff to carry out their duties. These facilities include those required to enable MHS staff to wash, shower and ensure their personal hygiene and cleanliness.
	In ensuring that adequate facilities are provided, the MHS also has an obligation to ensure that premises, including plants in which its inspection staff work, comply with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (as amended). Regulations 22 and 25 place a responsibility on all plant operators to provide facilities for rest and eating meals in the premises they control or own.
	The plant operator is the primary duty holder under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations. Some plant operators provide canteen facilities which are available to be shared by MHS inspection staff. Where shared eating facilities are not available, the MHS has provided refrigerators in some plants exclusively for the storage of food by inspection staff, and has also provided items such as microwave cookers and electric kettles for their usage.

Meat Hygiene

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment has been undertaken by the Meat Hygiene Service of the ergonomic and manual handling risks to its meat inspection staff;
	(2)  what measures the Meat Hygiene Service has put in place to remove the ergonomic risks to its inspection staff.

Melanie Johnson: I am advised that an ergonomic aspects of work policy supported by guidance and an inspection/risk assessment checklist was agreed with UNISON and issued by the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) in June 2002. In accordance with this policy, any individual who considers their health is at risk from ergonomic factors would be referred to BMI Services Ltd. for an assessment. In the light of their report, adjustments to the working conditions would be made where these were considered reasonable as required by statute. Where ergonomic factors in a licensed meat plant are of general concern, a report from BMI Services Ltd. may be commissioned. This would be referred to the MHS regional office for consideration with the plant operator before being reviewed by the joint MHS/UNISON health and safety committee for any recommendations they wish to make. The MHS has also provided ergonomic/manual handling training at both instructor and risk assessor level to 20 employees who will be deployed to review potential risks in licensed premises as appropriate.

MRSA

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in (a) England and (b) Leicester South conduct regular checks to identify cases of MRSA.

Melanie Johnson: All acute national health service trusts are required to report methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections as part of the mandatory surveillance system introduced by this Government in April 2001.

National Electronic Library

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the decision to terminate access to the Drug and Therapeutics bulletin database on the National Electronic Library for Health in May; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: There are no plans to terminate access to the electronic version of the Drug and Therapeutics bulletin available via the National Electronic Library for Health. This version of the bulletin will remain available to all national health service health professionals in England.

NHS Appointments

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the NHS Appointments Board has in the approval of a foundation trust's chairman elected from within the Board of Governors; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: None.

NHS Counter Fraud Compliance Unit

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date the NHS Counter Fraud Compliance Unit was proposed for closure in the Arm's Length Body review; what recent transitional arrangements have been proposed; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 February 2005
	The devolution of the work of the National Health Service Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) compliance unit was intended to be 31 March 2005, with closure of the unit at the same time.
	Unfortunately, an error occurred at the time of publication of An Implementation Framework for Reconfiguring the Department of Health's Arm's Length Bodies" and the date for closure was shown as 1 October 2005, not 31 March 2005 as previously indicated in communication to compliance unit staff. Staff in the compliance unit were contacted once it became clear that an error had been made.
	The CFSMS is continuing to consult with UNISON regarding transitional arrangements. These include retaining a small number of staff to undertake work on decommissioning the compliance unit for a limited period of time. This is in addition to the nine members of staff who will be retained to form a patient fraud support unit.

NHS Estates

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which functions of NHS Estates will remain with the Department of Health after 1 April; and which functions will transfer to other bodies;
	(2)  when he expects employees of NHS Estates to be informed of recent decisions on the organisation's future.

John Hutton: The implementation framework for reconfiguring the Department's arm's length bodies, published on 30 November 2004, sets out the future arrangements for NHS Estates functions, post its dissolution.
	A number of policy functions will be transferred to the Department, including Procure 21" and decontamination. Responsibility for national health service advisory services will transfer to strategic health authorities. The National Patient Safety Agency will take on the implementation of programmes concerning food and cleaning, and certain design related projects.
	Inventures trading services are likely to be disposed of through a managed closure.
	Employees of NHS Estates are being updated on a regular basis on decisions made about the organisation's future.

NHS Spending

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the proportion of GDP spent on public healthcare in (a) 1996 and (b) 2005.

John Hutton: The table shows the total public expenditure on health in the United Kingdom and expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).
	
		
			  Total public health expenditure (£ billion) Total public health expenditure as a percentage of GDP  
		
		
			 1996–97
			 Outturn 42.8 5.53 Cash 
			 
			 2005–06
			 Plan 88.6 7.13 Accruals 
		
	
	Note:
	2005–06 data is consistent with the National Statistics release on 20 July 2004. 1996–97 data is on different basis and published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2004. Data is available going back to 1998–99 that is on a consistent basis with the 2005–06 data.

NHS University

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the forecast total cost of the NHS University is from its establishment to its abolition;
	(2)  what the forecast cost is of abolishing the NHS University;
	(3)  what the average cost to his Department per student has been of providing a course at the NHS University.

John Hutton: The audited accounts of the NHS University special health authority for the period 1 December 2003 to 31 March 2004 show expenditure of £13.3 million. The budget for the financial year 2004–05 is £44.6 million. Actual expenditure will only be determined once the financial year has been completed.
	The NHSU remains scheduled for dissolution by July 2005. The part year cost of running the NHSU in 2005–06, and forecast transition costs, will be set as part of the 2005–06 budgets for the Department's arm's length bodies.
	The Department does not hold information on the average cost per student of a course at the NHSU. Although the NHSU provides training direct to staff working in the national health service, it also provides training in partnership with a wide range of education and training providers.
	The NHSU is not solely a provider of training. It undertakes other research and co-ordination activities on behalf of NHS learners.

Overseas Visitors

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Government's response to the replies received on the consultation paper Proposal to Exclude Overseas Visitors from Eligibility to Free NHS Primary Medical Services".

John Hutton: We plan to publish the results of the consultation at the same time as we announce our preferred way forward. However, these proposals have highlighted some complex issues which we are now considering and we will make the planned announcement when we have resolved these.

Shipman Inquiry

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of each stage of the Shipman Inquiry, broken down by main budget headings; and what the cost was of legal fees paid to each party represented.

John Hutton: pursuant to the reply, 24 February 2005, Official Report, c. 793W
	I regret that there was an error in my previous answer. The table detailing the legal fees of the represented parties funded from the inquiry's budget should have read as follows:
	
		
			 Legal fees of represented parties funded by Shipman Inquiry (to 31 January 2005) £000 
		
		
			 Tameside Families Support Group 2,159 
			 Detective Inspector David Smith 126.5 
			 Mr. Alan Massey, funeral director 27 
			 Mrs. Primrose Shipman 35 
			 Market Street surgery staff 28.5 
			 Dr. Alan Banks, Medical Adviser, West Pennine Health Authority 19.5 
			 Tameside Register Office staff 15 
			 Mrs. Christine Whitworth, executor of victim 0.4 
			 Dr. Michael Overton, relative of victim 0.3 
			 Mrs. Christine Schofield, housing manager at sheltered housing complex 1.4 
			 Mayfair Chemists (Hyde) Ltd. and Co-op Health Care Ltd. 3.5 
			 Total 2,416.1

Skin Cancer

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government 
	(1)  have spent on promoting public health policies aimed at protecting against skin cancer in each of the last 10 years; and how much it plans to spend in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06;
	(2)  how much of the money spent by his Department aimed at protecting against skin cancer over the last 10 years has been spent through Cancer Research UK.

Melanie Johnson: Annual figures on expenditure of sun awareness campaigns undertaken by the Health Education Authority are not available between 1996–97 and 1998–99.
	Amounts invested in sun awareness campaigns are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 543,000 
			 2000–01 50,000 
			 2001–02 126,000 
			 2002–03 140,000 
			 2003–04 150,000 
		
	
	Funding of approximately £400,000 over the next three years from March 2004 has been approved for the Cancer Research UK to run its SunSmart" sun awareness campaign on behalf of the United Kingdom health departments, following the successful launch of SunSmart" last year.

Student Midwives

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student midwives were in receipt of non-means tested state financial support in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04.

John Hutton: Non-means tested national health service bursaries have been awarded to 1,514 and 1,677 Diploma in Higher Education midwifery students in the academic years 2002–03 and 2003–04 respectively.

Sudan 1

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when the Food Standards Agency contacted the Health Protection Agency in connection with contamination of the food chain by Sudan 1 dye; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) the World Health Organisation and (b) the US Food and Drug Administration on contamination of UK food by Sudan 1 dye; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions his Department has had with the Institute of Grocery Distribution Emergency Planning Liaison Group about Sudan 1 dye contamination of the food chain; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  when the Food Standards Agency contacted the Central Science Laboratory in York in connection with contamination of the food chain by Sudan 1 dye; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what discussions officials from (a) his Department and (b) the Food Standards Agency have had with (i) the European Commission and (ii) the Global Food Safety Initiative about contamination of the food chain by Sudan 1 dye; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  when (a) his Department and (b) the Food Standards Agency first informed (i) the British Retail Consortium, (ii) the Institute of Grocery Distribution Emergency Planning Liaison Group and (iii) individual food retailers about the risk of food contamination by Sudan 1 dye; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 1 March 2005
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) contacted a wide range of stakeholders on the issue of Sudan contamination of food. No discussions were held specifically with the Institute of Grocery Distribution Emergency Planning Liaison Group.
	The FSA has not contacted the Central Science Laboratory in connection with this contamination. The FSA helped fund development of cheap tests for Sudan 1 dye, working with Public Analysts Laboratories.
	Officials from the FSA were first in contact with the European Commission about contamination of foods with Sudan 1 in June 2003 when instances of contamination were initially identified. This contact has continued on a regular basis regarding this contamination. The FSA has had no direct contact with the Global Food Safety Initiative.
	The FSA first informed the British Retail Consortium and other stakeholders of the risk of contamination of food with Sudan 1 in July 2003.
	No formal contact was made between the FSA and the Health Protection Agency over this incident of contamination of food with Sudan 1. It is the FSA's responsibility to protect public health in relation to food.
	No direct contact has been made with the World Health Organisation or Food and Drug Administration on the issue of contamination of United Kingdom foods with Sudan 1.

Sudan 1

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the recall of food products known to contain the Sudan 1 dye.

Melanie Johnson: A written statement on the recall of food products known to be contaminated with Sudan 1 was made to the House on 28 February 2005, Official Report, column 74WS.

Sudan 1

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what forms of cancer may be caused by the Sudan 1 dye; what symptoms may be shown by those consuming the dye; and what degree of risk is associated with the dye.

Melanie Johnson: Sudan 1 can cause liver cancer in laboratory rats. Although Sudan 1 could contribute to an increased risk of cancer in humans, at the levels present in food that risk is likely to be very small. It is not possible to further quantify the risk, but experts advise that exposure should be kept as low as possible. Since Sudan 1 is not permitted for food use, it should not be present in food at all.

Sun

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government have spent on advising the public that vitamin D obtained from sunlight is essential for health.

Melanie Johnson: The Government provide advice on vitamin D and sunlight as part of the SunSmart" campaign, which is run by Cancer Research UK on behalf of United Kingdom health departments. The Government give advice to the public on the benefits for health of obtaining vitamin D from gentle sunlight in all relevant publications. There is no separately identified budget.

Killer Disease Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards achieving the public service agreement target to reduce substantially mortality rates from the major killer diseases by 2010.

Melanie Johnson: The latest information on cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality shows a 27.1 per cent. and 12.2 per cent. reduction respectively, compared with the baseline period of 1995–97. We are ahead of where we planned to be at this stage and are on track to deliver both a 40 per cent. reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality and a 20 per cent. reduction in cancer mortality by 2010.

Killer Disease Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce mortality rates from heart disease by at least 40 per cent. in people under 75 years by 2010 will be met;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce the inequality in mortality rates from heart disease and stroke between the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators and the population as a whole by at least 40 per cent. by 2010 will be met.

Melanie Johnson: The Department regularly assesses the likelihood of delivery of these targets and continues to be confident they will be met or exceeded. In 2004, a major risk assessment was conducted on the cardiovascular mortality target and this concluded that the Department and the national health service are on track to meet or exceed these commitments.

Tuberculosis

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed in each of the last five years; and how many sufferers were born abroad.

Melanie Johnson: The Health Protection Agency publishes this data on its website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/tb/epidemiology/table14.htm.

Variant CJD

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission a research project into the effectiveness of pentosan in the treatment of variant CJD.

Melanie Johnson: Following advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, the Department commissioned two research programmes in 1999 to study the therapeutic benefit of pentosan polysulphate (PPS). The first study, lead by Dr. Christine Farquhar of the Institute for Animal Health's Neuropathogenesis Unit in Edinburgh, showed that PPS was effective in preventing the development of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in mice, but only if given at the time of infection or shortly after. It was not effective if given after clinical disease had developed. The second study, lead by Dr. Harbans Sharma from Manchester University, studied the pharmacokinetics (uptake) of PPS in mice and in human volunteers. These studies showed that PPS was very poorly absorbed by the body when taken orally and did not enter the brain.
	The Department is currently considering proposals for further research by Dr. Farquhar and Dr. Sharma.

Vitamins

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government has spent on free vitamins for mothers and babies in each of the last 10 years.

Melanie Johnson: Government spending on vitamins since 1995–96, the last year for which figures are available, is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial year Amount (£) 
		
		
			 1995–96 22,000 
			 1996–97 31,000 
			 1997–98 22,000 
			 1998–99 21,000 
			 1999–2000 17,000 
			 2000–01 13,000 
			 2001–02 13,500 
			 2002–03 13,000 
			 2003–04 12,500

Waiting Times

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 564W, on waiting times, when he intends to begin (a) monitoring and (b) publishing waiting times from general practitioner referral to start of treatment.

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what procedures will be counted under the 18-week waiting time target for hospital treatment;
	(2)  what statistics he plans to collect on waiting times for diagnosis; what procedures will be covered; whether (a) average and (b) maximum waits will be collected; and what the timetable will be for publication of these statistics.

John Hutton: holding answers 28 February 2005 and 1 March 2005
	The 18-week target applies to waiting times for all patients referred by a general practitioner (GP) to a consultant and includes waits for any necessary diagnosis.
	By the end of 2008, waiting times will be measured from GP referral to start of treatment. The Department is currently working with the national health service to develop proposals for monitoring diagnostic waiting times and delivery of the 18-week target. The further detailed information requested is therefore not yet available.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Atomic Test Veterans

Llew Smith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent assessment the Legal Services Commission has made of the application by British atomic test veterans for legal aid.

David Lammy: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) granted limited funding in June 2002 to two firms of solicitors to undertake preliminary investigations.
	The LSC made an assessment of the atomic veterans' Multi Party Action (MPA) in October 2004. This action includes British veterans among other nationalities. The LSC is currently awaiting further information from the solicitors to enable a decision to be made about whether further funding should be provided. Once the information is available the LSC will first consider the merits and then whether the action is affordable from the cash limited budget, having compared it with other major group actions that are being proposed. This is the standard procedure that the LSC currently applies to any major MPA.

Data Protection Act

Nigel Evans: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what provisions (a) within and (b) under the Data Protection Act 1998 are designed to ensure that designated data controllers dispose of information in an appropriate manner.

Christopher Leslie: There are no specific provisions in or under the Data Protection Act 1998 that identify approved methods for data controllers to carry out the deletion, erasure or destruction of personal data, or to effect the physical disposal or destruction of the dataprocessing medium. However, under the terms of the 7th Data Protection Principle, data controllers are required to take appropriate technical measures against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss of personal data.

Design

Alan Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who the ministerial design champion for his Department is.

Christopher Leslie: I am the Ministerial Design Champion for the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Land Search Charges

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Government has to vary land search charges.

David Lammy: I should first explain that in relation to land search charges the Department for Constitutional Affairs only has responsibility for local land charge fees, which include the fees for official and personal searches of the local land charges register, in England. However, I also have Ministerial responsibility for the fees payable to Land Registry under the Land Registration Act 2002, the Land Charges Act 1972 and the Agricultural Credits Act 1928. There are no plans to change the fees payable to Land Registry for searches of the land register, the land charges register or the register of agricultural charges.
	Under the Local Land Charges Act 1975, the Lord Chancellor has responsibility, with the concurrence of HM Treasury, for setting local land charge fees in England.
	On 1 March the Government successfully introduced an amendment to the Constitutional Reform Bill that will alter the Local Land Charges Act 1975 to give local authorities in England the power to set fees for local land charge services, with the exception of personal search fees, 1 March 2005, Official Report, column 849. If the amendment is enacted the new power will come into force on a date to be fixed.
	The amendment will allow local authorities to set fees, which, taking one year with another, will enable them to recover an amount up to, but not in excess of, the costs they incur in providing local land charge services. In setting fees, local authorities will have to have regard to guidance issued by the Lord Chancellor. An illustrative version of the type of guidance the Lord Chancellor may issue has been placed in the House Library. Further consultation will be undertaken before any guidance is issued.
	The amendment does not change the position in Wales, where the National Assembly for Wales has, since 31 December 2004, had responsibility for setting local land charge fees. Nor does it change the position in relation to fees for personal searches of the local land charges register, where a review is to be undertaken before any decision on changing the arrangements for setting these fees is made.
	It is expected that the study into the market for property search information being conducted by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will include consideration of the issues relating to personal searches. The OFT aim to complete the study this summer. I will consider in the light of the OFT report whether any further work is necessary to complete the review before making any decisions on the way forward.

Legal Costs (Traveller Encampments)

Philip Hammond: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what the total cost to public funds of providing legal advice, assistance and support in relation to planning applications and appeals in respect of Traveller encampments was in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  in how many legal cases no longer before the courts and involving a Traveller or a group of Travellers appealing against a decision by a local planning authority the Community Law Partnership has given advice.

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what the eligibility requirements for legal aid are for (a) Travellers and (b) home owners;
	(2)  what support the Legal Services Commission (LSC) provides to Travellers; and how much the LSC has spent on such support in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department deal with issues relating to Travellers;
	(4)  pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1296W, whether the Travellers' legal helpline provides advice in relation to (a) eviction actions and (b) planning enforcement actions;
	(5)  pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1296W, on Traveller sites, when the Government began funding the Community Law Partnership to provide legal support to Travellers; and how much funding was provided in each year.

David Lammy: It is not possible to identify individual grants of legal aid to Gypsies and Travellers in some categories of law because we do not collect information to indicate whether clients are from these ethnic groups or follow any particular lifestyle.
	The Community Law Partnership has held a contract with the LSC to provide publicly funded services since January 2000. It has held a contract with the LSC since April 2002 to provide telephone advice to Gypsies and Travellers on housing matters, including eviction and planning enforcement actions. Its grants have been as follows.
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 April 2002-March 2003 131,675 
			 April 2003-March 2004 131,675 
			 April 2004-March 2005 50,000 
		
	
	In addition, Legal Help, which provides for basic advice and assistance on questions of English law including, planning applications and appeals, is available subject to satisfying the statutory tests of the applicant's means and the merits of the case. The LSC does not hold data on how much Legal Help is awarded to Gypsies and Travellers.
	Legal Representation at planning applications and appeals is generally outside the scope of legal aid. However, since April 2000, funding can be made available in exceptional cases under section 6(8)(b) of the Access to Justice Act 1999, when the relevant criteria are satisfied, for example, where the case concerns the applicant's home. This protects the applicant's fundamental rights and ensures a fair hearing. It is not possible to give a precise figure for total costs but, since April 2000, a maximum of £45,000 plus VAT (excluding Legal Help costs) has been spent on planning applications in relation to Traveller encampments. The costs over the last five years break down as follows.
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 April 2001-March 2002 14,600 plus VAT 
			 April 2002-March 2003 7,000 plus VAT 
			 April 2003-March 2004 0 
			 April 2004-March 2005 23,644 plus VAT 
		
	
	According to our records, legal aid has been granted to the Community Law Partnership for representation in 16 such cases. We do not know whether all these cases have concluded.
	The Ormiston Children and Families Trust and the Fenland Citizens Advice Bureau has received a Partnership Initiative Budget grant to pilot the provision of information and advice services on social welfare law specifically to Gypsies and Travellers in Cambridgeshire. LSC funding amounted to £5,050 in 2003–04 and £17,200 so far in 2004–05.
	The eligibility criteria for legal aid for Gypsies and Travellers are the same as for other individuals in England and Wales.
	Allowances are given within the financial eligibility tests for civil legal aid to disregard equity held in a homeowner's principal home up to a limit of £100,000, in addition to payments for a mortgage of up to £100,000.
	No member of staff at the Department for Constitutional Affairs deals solely with issues relating to Travellers.

Population Censuses

John Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Registrar General was permitted to retain the 1921 to 1971 decennial population censuses for England and Wales during the period 1997 to 2004 in his Department for renewable periods of 10 years.

Christopher Leslie: Decennial population censuses for the period from 1921 to 1971 are approved for retention in the responsible department under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958. The Lord Chancellor's Retention Instrument number 38 (signed in 1996) approves retention of the 1921 and 1951 censuses. The Lord Chancellor's Retention Instrument number 63 (signed in 2001) approves retention of the 1961 and 1971 censuses. There are no surviving decennial population census records for 1931 and no census was taken in 1941.

Court Disputes Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to reduce the proportion of disputes that are resolved by the courts;
	(2)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to reduce unnecessary delay and cost in the legal system;
	(3)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to increase year on year the level of satisfaction of users by taking speedy, high quality decisions in the legal system and ensuring that outcomes are enforced effectively;
	(4)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to increase year on year the number of people who receive suitable assistance in priority areas of law involving fundamental rights or social exclusion;
	(5)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to modernise the constitution and ensure proper access to information by citizens;
	(6)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to deliver justice in partnership with the independent judiciary;
	(7)  whether the public service agreement target to increase value for money from the criminal justice system by 3 per cent. per year was met in 2004;
	(8)  whether the public service agreement target to increase efficiency in the criminal justice system by at least 2 per cent. a year, including the delivery of legal aid, was met in 2004.

Christopher Leslie: Progress against these targets is set out in the Department for Constitutional Affairs' autumn performance report (Cm 6391) which was presented to Parliament in December 2004.

Court Disputes Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce public fear of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Christopher Leslie: Plans to deliver this Public Service Agreement target, which was announced as part of the 2004 Spending Review and come into effect on 1 April 2005, are currently being developed. Progress will be covered in the Departmental Report 2005 and the Autumn Performance Report 2005 both of which will be laid before Parliament later this year.

Court Disputes Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the proportion of care cases being completed in the courts within 40 weeks by 10 per cent. by 2009–10 will be met;
	(2)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to achieve earlier and more proportionate resolution of legal problems and disputes;
	(3)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase advice and assistance to help people resolve their legal disputes earlier and more effectively;
	(4)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase the opportunities for people involved in court cases to settle their disputes out of court;
	(5)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce delays in resolving those disputes that need to be decided by the courts;
	(6)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to enable the development of democratic institutions of Government that command public confidence;
	(7)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to create a modern, efficient and effective Department that has the capacity and capability to deliver excellent public services.

Christopher Leslie: Plans to deliver these Public Service Agreement targets and Strategic Objectives, which were announced as part of the 2004 Spending Review and come into effect on 1 April 2005, are currently being developed. Progress will be covered in the Departmental Report 2005 and the Autumn Performance Report 2005 both of which will be laid before Parliament later this year.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Gambling

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many meetings (a) officials and (b) Ministers in her Department have held with foreign based casino operators in the last 18 months; what the date of each meeting was; and who the attendees were.

Richard Caborn: Since the publication of the report of the Gambling Review Body (Cm 5206) in July 2001, the Department has undertaken a very extensive programme of consultations with interested bodies about options and proposals for changes to gambling law in Great Britain. There have been two formal public consultations, the first on the Review Body's report and the second on the draft clauses published for pre-legislative scrutiny in November 2003.
	In addition to these consultations the relevant Government Departments have corresponded with and met individual companies (including those who have expressed an interest in trading in Great Britain as well as those already doing so), trade associations, charities and other bodies concerned with problem gambling or who benefit from lotteries, local authorities, trade unions, law enforcement agencies, academics and many other bodies and individuals, including members of the public, with an interest. These contacts, designed to ensure that the Government's policy proposals are sound and take full account of all relevant benefits, costs and risks, have involved both Ministers and officials. All such contacts are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Code.

Departmental Policies

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Croydon, Central, the effects of the Department's policies and actions on Croydon, Central constituency since 1997.

Richard Caborn: The Department's aim is to improve the quality of life for everyone through cultural and sporting activities, to support the pursuit of excellence and to champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries. The Department's policies and actions have had a significant impact on Croydon, Central since 2 May 1997.
	In order to achieve our challenging targets for increased participation in sport and physical activity, we have invested in thousands of new and refurbished public sports facilities. In 2002 we launched the first ever comprehensive national physical education, school sport and club links strategy with an investment of £459 million. Two school sport partnerships involving eight School Sport Co-ordinators and 36 Primary Link teachers is based in Croydon, Central. They have received two Sport England grants totalling £678,454. To achieve our challenging targets for increased participation in sport and physical activity, we have invested in thousands of new and refurbished public sports facilities. Sports facilities in Croydon, Central have benefited from three Sport England Lottery grants totalling £3,018,850.
	We have increased our national funding to the arts in real terms by 60 per cent. from £199 million in 1998–99 to £367 million in 2004–05. Between 1998–99 and 2003–04 Arts Council England, London grants increased from £13.6 million to £133.8 million, including from 1 April 2003 funding to major national arts organisations in London. In 2005–06 the total Arts Council England investment in London will be £151.6 million. Croydon, Central has benefited from grants to arts projects, organisations and individuals, including the Croydon Clocktower.
	Young people in Croydon, Central benefit from the London Youth Music Action Zone, known as Sound Connections. Since 2000, the Action Zone has been awarded three grants totalling £1,245,000, and so far it has successfully engaged over 2,000 young people in music-making opportunities.
	Culture Online was launched in 2002 to increase access to, and participation in, arts and culture. Many of its projects are aimed at children of school age and at audiences that might not otherwise participate in arts and culture, including those who do not easily have access to arts and culture, people from deprived communities and people with particular educational or physical needs. People in Croydon, Central will be among those who benefit from Culture Online. Between 2002 and 2004, £13 million was allocated to fund 20 Culture Online projects.
	Croydon, Central also benefits from the Renaissance in the regions museums initiative. The London Museums Hub in partnership with several museums, including Croydon Museum, is working with local refugee groups on an exhibition to be displayed in the museum or a local community centre.
	Through our commitment to public service broadcasting we have helped to foster an environment in which a creative, commercially successful broadcasting industry provides a wide range of UK-made, high quality original programmes catering for all viewers and listeners. We have ensured a secure funding base for the BBC and Channel 4, while giving them the freedom to develop commercial operations which complement and support their public service remit. The Communications Act 2003 includes provisions to ensure that public service broadcasting will continue to have a key role to play in the digital future.
	Our support for, and promotion of, the film and broadcasting industries have contributed to the general success of film-making and television activity in the Croydon area. FilmLondon have funded a number of film related activities in the Croydon, Central constituency including £1,000 towards the Croydon Film Festival in 2001–02 and £7,000 to the Croydon Film Fund between 2001–03.
	In November 2000 we introduced free television licences for people aged 75 or over. Information on the number of beneficiaries by constituency is not available. However, according to Department for Work and Pensions records, the number of households in Croydon, Central with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in 2003–04 was 5,715.
	We have changed the licensing laws to allow people to hold and attend commercial dances on Sunday, to make it easier for restaurants to open an hour later, and to relax the alcohol licensing hours from 11 pm on New Year's Eve to 11 am on New Year's Day in all future years; and we have given the police greater powers to take action against under-age drinking and disorderly and noisy licensed premises. The Licensing Act 2003, when fully implemented, will introduce a streamlined, consistent and fair licensing regime for the provision of alcohol, public entertainment and late night refreshment. It will provide greater choice for consumers, bring regeneration and increased employment opportunities and protect local residents whose lives have been blighted by disturbance and antisocial behaviour.
	The Gambling Bill will, when implemented, transfer responsibility for licensing gambling premises to local authorities. Local people and businesses will be able to make representations about applications for licenses and local authorities will be able to decide not to issue licenses for casino premises. These changes will give local communities, including those in Croydon, Central, a greater say in the regulation of gambling in their area.
	Tourism in Croydon, Central has benefited from Government-funded marketing activity. In April 2003 we established VisitBritain with a new domestic marketing remit for England, and we gave strategic responsibility for tourism development to the Regional Development Agencies, including the London Development Agency. These changes, together with VisitBritain's successful marketing activities in promoting Britain abroad as an attractive tourist destination, benefit all parts of the country, including Croydon, Central.
	English Heritage has awarded grants worth £217,367 to Croydon, Central since 2 May 1997, including £100,637 to the Church of St John the Baptist from 2002 to 2004 and £81,000 to St Peter's Church from 2003 to 2004.
	In common with all those in the United Kingdom, the public library branches in Croydon, Central constituency are connected to the internet through the People's Network which was funded through a £120 million Lottery grant and which has put all the United Kingdom's public libraries on-line. In addition, the Department is funding the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council with £5 million over three years to implement the Framework for the Future Action Plan and Library Improvement Programme, which is designed to encourage improvement across the public libraries sector in England.
	The Department has been an energetic advocate of the community and informal learning value of public libraries. Croydon Council has recognised this value and took part in an initiative called the Croydon Online Community Network. This enabled some libraries—two of them in Croydon, Central—to be connected to the Croydon Online Network and the creation of a Croydon Job Mart website and a Croydon Health Information Network. Housebound users were also enabled to connect to the internet. The project received a total award of £128,000 from the DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Challenge Fund in 1998–99. A proportion of this was of benefit to libraries in the Croydon, Central constituency.
	In 2003 the London Borough of Croydon were successful at stage one of the application process for PFI credits, and were allocated £4.6 million on a provisional basis for the Ashburton Learning Village project, which incorporated a new branch library, support for an improved household library service, and music service. This will be of direct benefit to residents within the Croydon, Central Constituency.
	Information from the National Lottery distributors indicates that since 2 May 1997 Croydon, Central has benefited from 221 awards totalling just under £13 million. Of these, 47 awards worth over £5.6 million were made by the New Opportunities Fund which was established by the Government in 1999. The New Opportunities Fund merged with the Community Fund in June 2004 to form the Big Lottery Fund.

Digital Broadcasting

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2005, Official Report, columns 237–38W, on Digital Broadcasting, what the technical restraints on DTT transmissions from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter are.

Estelle Morris: Viewers in Solihull will be receiving their conventional television signals from the main Sutton Coldfield transmitter. Sutton Coldfield does broadcast the full range of digital services, but congestion of the spectrum means that their coverage currently has to be limited to avoid causing interference to viewers of analogue television services.
	Although many viewers in the West Midlands are able to receive digital services from Sutton Coldfield, the coverage restrictions result in patchy digital coverage in and around Solihull.
	At switchover, these restrictions will be removed and enable the coverage of the digital services to be increased to ensure that everyone who can currently get the main public service broadcasting channels in analogue form (BBC 1 and 2, ITV, Channel 4/S4C and Channel 5) can receive them on digital systems.

Growth Areas (Funding)

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding her Department has earmarked for growth areas to ensure that they have the resources required to meet the demands of a growing population.

Richard Caborn: The majority of the Department's funding is delegated to its non-departmental public bodies. We have not, therefore, earmarked any direct funding for the growth areas although we do recognise that culture has a vital contribution to make to them and are working closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. We have also encouraged our NDPBs to engage with local delivery vehicles and local regeneration partnerships within the growth areas and they are actively involved in a number of pieces of work including:
	the joint funding of a Cultural Coordinator for the North Kent section of the Thames Gateway by Culture South East, Arts Council England South East, Sport England South East, South East England Museum and Library Archive and Tourism South East. The Coordinator will work with these agencies and other partners to ensure a strategic and coordinated approach to the development of cultural provision with Thames Gateway North Kent;
	the development of cultural guidance for development bodies within the Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area. This work, due to be published on 15 March, has been coordinated by Culture South East, Living East and Culture East Midlands working with English Heritage, Sport England, Arts Council England, Tourist Boards, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, regional bodies advising on architecture and the built environment, and screen and media agencies from within the three regions as well as Government offices and local authorities.

Libraries

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on library (a) buildings and (b) books in Greater London in each year since 2001–02.

Estelle Morris: The following information shows the funds spent on library premises and books in Greater London.
	This information derives from the Annual Public Library Statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). 2002–03 is the latest data available. Because of the way the statistics are calculated and presented, the books figure also includes the purchase of pamphlets.
	
		Funds spent on library premises in Greater London
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 17,818,383 
			 2002–03 20,183,505 
		
	
	
		Funds spent on books in Greater London
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 13,222,992 
			 2002–03 13,196,648

Licensing Act

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what recent representations she has had from amateur sports clubs regarding the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003;
	(2)  what recent representations she has had from the police regarding the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003;
	(3)  what recent representations she has received from alcohol abuse charities regarding the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003;
	(4)  what recent representations she has had from religious groups regarding the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003;
	(5)  what recent representations she has received regarding the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003.

Richard Caborn: There have been two recent public consultations on (a) draft Regulations and an Order under the Licensing Act 2003 which took place between 15 September and 10 November 2004, and (b) draft fee regulations under the 2003 Act which took place between 4 November and 23 December 2004.
	In respect of (a) we received 269 responses from 230 public bodies, organisations and individuals, some of which responded more than once. These included two from amateur sports clubs; 10 from police forces including one from their representative body (the Association of Chief Police Officers); 0 from alcohol abuse charities; and 0 from religious groups. We also received a response from a Member of Parliament on behalf of The National United Temperance Council.
	In respect of (b) we received 427 responses, including 97 from amateur sports clubs and their representative bodies; one from a police force and one from ACPO; 0 from alcohol abuse charities; and 0 from religious groups.
	Since these consultations ended we have received correspondence from a wide range of groups and individuals including from sports clubs and their representative bodies, individual police officers, individuals from the field of alcohol abuse charities, and from those representing religious groups. This correspondence has primarily concerned the level at which fees have been set and the potential impact of 24 hour opening.

Licensing Act

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many extended licences have been issued since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: 7 February marked the start of the transition from the old licensing regimes to the arrangements under the Licensing Act 2003. However, the 2003 Act will not be fully implemented until November 2005. It is therefore too soon to say how many licences have been issued varying the hours of operation.

Lottery Funding (Travellers)

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the Traveller community groups and organisations that have received Lottery funding since May 1997.

Estelle Morris: The following lists all successful Lottery awards that have been granted to groups that feature the words 'Traveller' or 'Gypsy' in their name, or in project description. This does not mean that all the groups listed are Traveller groups or organisations.
	Ackworth Concert Society
	Action Group For Irish Youth
	Advisory Council—Education of Romany and Other Travellers
	An Tearmann Playgroup
	An Tearmann Project
	BIAS Brent Irish Advisory Service
	Bagworth Forward Group
	Belfast Public Libraries
	Belfast Traveller Support Group
	Belfast Travellers Education And Development Group
	Black Bull Clog
	Brent Irish Advisory Service
	Call of the Wild
	Cardiff Gypsy Sites Project (Ltd.)
	Community Development Agency for Hertfordshire
	Craigavon Travellers Support Committee
	Crathie Opportunity Holidays
	Creative Development Partnership
	CSV
	Dave Kelbie-Lejazzetal
	Derry Travellers' Support Group
	Deva Arts
	East Norfolk Travellers Association
	EHCPA Community Playbus Association
	Fellow Travellers
	First Steps Pre-School and Family Group
	Gainsborough Traveller Initiative
	Generator X
	Groundwork Southwark
	Gypsy Council
	Gypsy Traveller Needs Association
	Hart Voluntary Action
	International Gypsy Band Swap
	Irish Community Care Manchester
	KIDS
	Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange
	London Borough of Bromley
	London Borough of Hillingdon
	London Gypsy and Traveller Unit
	Marianne Olyver Gypsy Orchestra
	Mela Group—Healthy Nations 2000
	Murston Early Years Project
	Museum of East Anglian Life
	National Travellers Action Group
	New Forest And Romsey Mobile Community Project
	Norfolk Local Education Authority
	Northamptonshire County Council (Education/Community Learning)
	Northern Ireland Council for Travelling People
	Patchway, Bradley Stoke and Stoke Gifford Play Association
	Presfield Special School
	Radical Gypsy
	Raynehurst Junior School
	S.T.E.P
	Save the Children
	Scottish Gypsy Traveller Association
	Serious Events Ltd.
	Sheffield Gypsy and Traveller Support Group
	Sheila Douglas
	Smooth Ride Guides
	St. Johns Parent Partnership Fund
	St. Peter's Playgroup
	Stoke-On-Trent Citizens Advice Bureau
	Surrey County Council
	The Abbey Lawn Trust
	The Bromley Gypsy Traveller Community Project
	The Dawnay Primary School
	The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen
	The Gypsy Community Project
	The Queen's School, Wisbech
	Traveller Education and Information Project (North East)
	Traveller Girls Group
	Traveller Movement (NI)
	Travellers Funhouse
	Travellers Rest Community Football Club
	Travelling Homeopaths Collective
	Unique Coffee Bar
	Unst Youth Centre Trust
	Upper Springfield Development Trust
	Uxbridge College
	Witchford Traveller Group
	Women's Music and Performance Workshops
	Wrexham Catholic Forum for Traveller Children
	Wroughton Infant School
	York Travellers Trust
	Young Travellers Education Project
	This information is available from the Department's searchable Lottery award database at www.lottery.culture.gsi.gov.uk, which uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.

MadforArts Project

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what occasions the MadforArts Advisory Panel has met since its formation; who attended the meetings; if she will publish the (a) minutes and (b) accounts of expenses claimed for each meeting; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: The MadforArts Advisory Panel has met only once, on 6 September 2004. Eight members of the panel attended, plus one support person and four staff from the MadforArts team. The Advisory Panel has an informal advisory role and no minutes were taken, nor are there any published expense accounts. The costs involved for the meeting were £1,011.23. The next meeting is due to be held on 10 March 2005.

MadforArts Project

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public funding the MadforArts Advisory Panel (a) received and (b) allocated in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: The MadforArts Advisory Panel does not receive or allocate any public funding. Its only costs are expenses for panel meetings.

MadforArts Project

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms have been put in place to invite feedback about the MadforArts project; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: There are a large number of ways in which users of the MadforArts website are encouraged to provide feedback. These include:
	opportunities throughout the site for users to contact managers of the project;
	a discussion forum for all users, which includes several threads requesting feedback and future ideas, set up by the project team and three threads set up by the project's users;
	opportunities for users to suggest events, articles or features that they would like the website to cover;
	regular opportunities for those attending related events to provide feedback and thoughts on the project;
	opportunities for users to give their own ideas on the future of the project, and the direction they would like it to take;
	a weekly e-mail bulletin to all users which asks for feedback; and
	evaluation forms distributed to active users of the project which ask for feedback and suggested improvements.
	In addition, all suggestions for improvement that have arisen in the more general debates on the discussion board have also been logged and noted by the project team.

Motorsport

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what resources are available to assist in the development of karting facilities for young people.

Richard Caborn: The Motor Sports Association (MSA)—the UK's governing body for motor sports—is active in supporting the development of karting for young people. In partnership with the National Schools Karting Association, the MSA provides opportunities for young people to experience the sport at events held at karting facilities, which can themselves apply to the Club Development Fund for support on safety infrastructure and equipment.
	Furthermore, the development of three international-standard karting tracks in the UK was one of the recommendations to emerge from the Department for Trade and Industry's Motorsport Competitiveness Panel in July 2003. The industry-led Motorsport Development Board, formed to advise on implementing these recommendations, is currently addressing them as part of a whole sport" approach to widening participation.

Motorsport

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what resources have been made available to fund motorsport development in each of the last three years; and to which projects it has been allocated.

Richard Caborn: Between April 2000 to March 2004, £8,330,644 was made available by the Department for Trade and Industry, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the regional development agencies for the east of England, East Midlands, south east of England and West Midlands to fund motorsport development.
	Using the programme headings subsequently devised by the Motorsport Competitiveness Panel, this funding was allocated to projects for:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Project Funding allocated 
		
		
			 Motorsport Academy 1,747,000 
			 Motorsport Learning Grid 331,000 
			 Business Development 2,439,144 
			 Widening Sporting Participation 414,000 
			 Energy Efficient Motorsport 94,500 
			 Development of Volunteer Officials 0 
			 Other regional revenue projects 435,000 
			 Other regional capital projects 2,870,000 
		
	
	The same Departments and agencies have also committed £16 million to implement the recommendations of the Motorsport Competitiveness Panel. Between April 2004 to March 2009 a total of £1,751,478 has been provided to first-year development projects for:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Project Funding allocated 
		
		
			 Motorsport Academy 291,511 
			 Motorsport Learning Grid 300,000 
			 Business development 245,250 
			 Widening sporting participation 350,325 
			 Energy efficient motorsport 326,500 
			 Development of volunteer officials 37,100 
		
	
	Additional funding will be allocated to the delivery of these projects in the following years, subject to the approval of the Motorsport Development Board.

Motorsport

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Department for Trade and Industry Motorsport Competitiveness Panel reported; and what steps have been taken by her Department to implement its conclusion.

Richard Caborn: The Motorsport Competitiveness Panel report was published in July 2003. The Motorsport Development Board was subsequently appointed to provide industry and sporting leadership on the five year programme to implement the Competitiveness Panel's recommendations, meeting for the first time in November 2003.
	The Board is in the process of producing delivery plans for each of the areas of the Competitiveness Panel's recommendations and to-date it has supported projects under the six broad recommendations: Motorsport Academy, Motorsport Learning Grid, Business Development, Widening Sporting Participation, Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS), and Development of Volunteer Officials.

National Lottery

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the total amount (a) allocated and (b) distributed by each of the lottery distribution bodies in each year since 1994.

Estelle Morris: The figures appear in the following table by calendar years. Those for 1995 incorporate the last few months of 1994, before which the lottery did not operate.
	The figures in the 'allocated' columns are available from the Department's searchable lottery award database at www.lottery.culture.gsi.gov.uk, which uses information supplied by the lottery distributors. The figures for 2004 are not yet final due to lags in the reporting process.
	The figures in the distributed" column represent draw-down by the distributors from the National Lottery
	Distribution Fund (NLDF), and include administrative costs.
	
		1995
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 206,611,779 21,839,037 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 4,307,651 289,217 
			 Arts Council of Wales 8,927,997 1,697,021 
			 Community Fund 154,198,448 9,289,002 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 107,816,131 31,341,926 
			 Millennium Commission 330,973,165 5,307,031 
			 New Opportunities Fund 0 0 
			 Scottish Arts Council 13,192,932 1,395,777 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 93,941,707 18,576,000 
			 Sport Scotland 8,951,222 2,793,143 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 4,574,880 677,417 
			 Sports Council for Wales 4,953,171 791,956 
			 UK Film Council 0 0 
			 UK Sport 0 0 
			 Awards for All 0 0 
		
	
	
		1996
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 469,874,349 108,000,732 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 7,062,937 1,423,718 
			 Arts Council of Wales 12,975,071 7,058,727 
			 Community Fund 287,688,900 112,830,703 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 340,408,844 74,658,667 
			 Millennium Commission 430,308,405 29,237,983 
			 New Opportunities Fund 0 0 
			 Scottish Arts Council 36,114,453 10,328,628 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 105,789,797 78,571,000 
			 Sport Scotland 13,957,583 8,827,095 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 6,529,998 3,904,247 
			 Sports Council for Wales 13,464,328 5,140,464 
			 UK Film Council 0 0 
			 UK Sport 0 0 
			 Awards for All 0 0 
		
	
	
		1997
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 311,086,127 274,755,968 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 4,740,377 3,068,466 
			 Arts Council of Wales 18,398,152 12,348,056 
			 Community Fund 213,578,949 202,872,982 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 474,151,639 131,937,484 
			 Millennium Commission 1,125,429,317 161,693,783 
			 New Opportunities Fund 0 0 
			 Scottish Arts Council 24,195,170 22,842,498 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 159,449,315 135,869,000 
			 Sport Scotland 12,139,367 12,732,069 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 7,618,882 6,712,468 
			 Sports Council for Wales 18,223,262 12,122,000 
			 UK Film Council 0 0 
			 UK Sport 200,000 0 
			 Awards for All 0 0 
		
	
	
		1998
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 134,616,217 337,445,773 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 10,402,112 4,088,256 
			 Arts Council of Wales 12,499,587 15,353,233 
			 Community Fund 273,595,067 257,885,805 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 318,130,322 182,286,502 
			 Millennium Commission 41,143,277 340,291,889 
			 New Opportunities Fund 0 837,098 
			 Scottish Arts Council 37,331,278 22,303,532 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 209,491,814 225,890,000 
			 Sport Scotland 26,205,559 21,096,467 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 10,515,805 6,962,029 
			 Sports Council for Wales 6,971,813 12,895,838 
			 UK Film Council 0 0 
			 UK Sport 12,160 0 
			 Awards for All 2,577,779 0 
		
	
	
		1999
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 203,611,377 233,995,234 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 8,622,996 8,850,837 
			 Arts Council of Wales 14,366,083 14,219,222 
			 Community Fund 483,936,056 355,530,515 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 212,445,756 256,505,732 
			 Millennium Commission 42,946,129 559,325,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 408,714,012 31,304,340 
			 Scottish Arts Council 13,682,936 30,044,461 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 261,971,374 357,600,000 
			 Sport Scotland 22,320,874 20,384,294 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 6,267,805 9,806,819 
			 Sports Council for Wales 4,754,354 16,032,000 
			 UK Film Council 5,823,653 0 
			 UK Sport 11,011,950 6,593,712 
			 Awards for All 23,781,933 0 
		
	
	
		2000
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 86,474,573 217,088,700 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 1,522,456 5,778,377 
			 Arts Council of Wales 10,346,757 13,380,923 
			 Community Fund 345,487,914 398,789,671 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 172,157,650 282,853,899 
			 Millennium Commission 38,069,526 526,157,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 202,446,377 138,250,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 14,549,320 24,624,354 
			 Scottish Screen 3,392,911 768,327 
			 Sport England 326,022,512 236,566,000 
			 Sport Scotland 20,012,659 23,684,361 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 3,662,642 7,036,999 
			 Sports Council for Wales 3,240,967 8,360,000 
			 UK Film Council 18,743,451 7,552,509 
			 UK Sport 24,005,579 24,754,538 
			 Awards for All 45,277,329 0 
		
	
	
		2001
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 134,032,103 213,432,591 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 3,578,985 6,570,211 
			 Arts Council of Wales 14,856,977 10,795,542 
			 Community Fund 294,421,984 393,717,444 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 239,401,618 269,130,010 
			 Millennium Commission 24,018,954 253,133,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 437,489,154 196,950,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 15,370,258 24,687,218 
			 Scottish Screen 3,361,188 3,509,906 
			 Sport England 306,433,258 265,500,000 
			 Sport Scotland 26,357,483 24,658,552 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 2,880,828 4,551,340 
			 Sports Council for Wales 16,952,842 9,581,000 
			 UK Film Council 27,052,929 10,393,199 
			 UK Sport 66,885,806 24,337,678 
			 Awards for All 34,986,253 0 
		
	
	
		2002
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 145,654,795 197,055,996 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 2,738,993 6,494,499 
			 Arts Council of Wales 7,692,050 13,674,242 
			 Community Fund 264,743,005 366,824,140 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 316,206,330 260,025,901 
			 Millennium Commission 103,325,941 111,616,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 421,743,571 344,000,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 19,721,417 16,179,128 
			 Scottish Screen 0 3,965,625 
			 Sport England 370,027,014 323,158,000 
			 Sport Scotland 29,540,413 21,015,710 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 232,268 4,906,272 
			 Sports Council for Wales 17,932,555 17,820,200 
			 UK Film Council 28,408,618 19,925,712 
			 UK Sport 10,793,311 24,735,256 
			 Awards for All 57,452,142 0 
		
	
	
		2003
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 139,925,310 165,646,000 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 2,503,191 7,161,402 
			 Arts Council of Wales 11,369,669 17,143,903 
			 Community Fund 249,530,222 319,352,073 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 332,587,785 308,243,299 
			 Millennium Commission 3,951,425 167,857,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 708,706,606 524,000,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 23,505,990 24,810,738 
			 Scottish Screen 0 3,916,874 
			 Sport England 146,346,884 260,700,000 
			 Sport Scotland 13,738,206 26,425,456 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 312,170 4,296,357 
			 Sports Council for Wales 13,103,820 22,064,074 
			 UK Film Council 40,498,691 39,216,822 
			 UK Sport 10,055,879 20,884,077 
			 Awards for All 50,438,0430 0 
		
	
	
		2004
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 96,220,792 205,775,705 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 734,745 7,572,031 
			 Arts Council of Wales 5,219,598 18,485,335 
			 Community Fund 203,570,917 277,656,357 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 168,873,139 322,783,001 
			 Millennium Commission 24,444,086 54,047,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 369,330,322 564,000,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 12,878,072 26,211,777 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 182,052,180 181,500,000 
			 Sport Scotland 5,219,543 34,185,194 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 464,192 6,242,388 
			 Sports Council for Wales 12,740,743 19,599,690 
			 UK Film Council 28,470,772 38,050,168 
			 UK Sport 4,687,157 18,247,661 
			 Awards for All 49,312,948 0 
		
	
	
		2005 to date
		
			 £ 
			 Lottery distributor Allocated Distributed 
		
		
			 Arts Council England 763,877 14,924,626 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 0 544,802 
			 Arts Council of Wales 0 638,514 
			 Community Fund 21,320,847 12,373,704 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 0 17,546,405 
			 Millennium Commission 0 3,294,000 
			 New Opportunities Fund 6,220,853 31,000,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 415,199 1,325,570 
			 Scottish Screen 0 0 
			 Sport England 0 8,500,000 
			 Sport Scotland 0 1,632,160 
			 Sports Council for Northern Ireland 0 364,298 
			 Sports Council for Wales 0 2,638,000 
			 UK Film Council 2,649,403 1,929,391 
			 UK Sport 127,651,842 1,966,378 
			 Awards for All 1,450 0 
		
	
	Note:
	Allocated" and distributed" columns naturally differ because many awards are not distributed in the year in which the money is allocated.
	Awards for All" is a joint scheme and not a distributor, so it does not draw down money itself from the NLDF.
	The table excludes the lottery proceeds used to fund NESTA (£200 million in 1998 and further £95 million in 2003).

Nightclubs

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what plans she has to review the procedures for the licensing of nightclubs;
	(2)  if she will bring forward proposals to require local authorities to publicise more widely applications for licensing of nightclubs.

Richard Caborn: There is no legal definition of nightclub". The procedures for the licensing of all premises selling alcohol or providing regulated entertainment or late night refreshment were reviewed during the White Paper consultation on licensing and the subject of detailed scrutiny during the Licensing Bill's passage through Parliament. The Licensing Act 2003 and Guidance to Licensing Authorities explain the new procedures and can be read on the Department's website (www.culture.gov.uk ). The requirements for advertising applications for the grant or variation or review of premises licences are contained in regulations that are also available on our website. These include the need to display for 28 consecutive days, a legible notice prominently at or on the premises to which the application relates where it can be conveniently read from the exterior of the premises and, in the case of a premises covering an area of more than 50 sq m, a further notice in the same form and subject to the same requirements every 50 m along the external perimeter of the premises abutting any highway; and also to publish a notice in a local newspaper or, if there is none, a local newsletter or similar document at least once during the 10 working days after the application is given to the licensing authority. We do not think that there is a case for further extending the publicising of applications for licences for nightclubs.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by five to 16-year-olds so that the percentage of school children in England who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality physical education and school sport within and beyond the curriculum increases to 85 per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(2)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by five to 16 year olds so that the percentage of school children in England who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality physical education and school sport within and beyond the curriculum increases to at least 75 per cent. in each School Sport Partnership by 2008 will be met;
	(3)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the number of adults and young people from priority groups visiting designated historic environment sites by three per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(4)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the number of adults and young people from priority groups accessing museum and galleries by two per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(5)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the number of adults and young people from priority groups who attend an arts event at least twice a year by three per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(6)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the number of adults and young people from priority groups who participate in an arts activity at least twice a year by two per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(7)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the number of adults and young people from priority groups who engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity level of sport at least three times a week by three per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(8)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to increase the number of adults and young people from priority groups who participate in active sports at least 12 times a year by three per cent. by 2008 will be met;
	(9)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase the productivity of the tourism, creative and leisure industries by 2008;
	(10)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase participation in culture and sport.

Richard Caborn: Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets will replace the Department's existing PSA targets and will run from April 2005–08. Delivery plans are under development for each of the PSA targets and the projects that will support the delivery of the targets.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by five to 16-year-olds so that the percentage of school children in England who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality physical education and school sport within and beyond the curriculum increases from 25 per cent. in 2002 to 75 per cent. by 2006 will be met;
	(2)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase the take-up of cultural and sporting opportunities by adults and young people from priority groups;
	(3)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to improve significantly the value for money of her Department's sponsored bodies;
	(4)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase significantly the take-up of cultural and sporting opportunities by new users aged 20 and above from priority groups.

Richard Caborn: Information on the Department's performance against its Public Service Agreement targets 2002 was published on 22 December 2004 in the DCMS Autumn Performance Report (Cm 6435). Copies of the report are available in the House Library.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to modernise delivery to the customer by ensuring that her Department and its sponsored bodies improve performance and pursue institutional excellence.

Richard Caborn: The Department does not have a Public Service Agreement to modernise delivery to the customer by ensuring that her Department and its sponsored bodies improve performance and pursue institutional excellence." We do however have a PSA target to improve significantly the value for money of the Department's sponsored bodies, measured by a matrix of NDPB indicators".
	Information on the Department's performance against this Public Service Agreement target was published on 22 December 2004 in the DCMS Autumn Performance Report (Cm 6435). Copies of the report are available in the House Library.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to develop appropriate regulatory frameworks that protect consumers' interests and improve productivity.

Richard Caborn: The Department does not have a Public Service Agreement 'to develop appropriate regulatory frameworks that protect consumers' interests and improve productivity'. We do however have a PSA target 'to improve the productivity of the tourism, creative and leisure industries'.
	Information on the Department's performance against this Public Service Agreement target was published on 22 December 2004 in the DCMS Autumn Performance Report (Cm 6435). Copies of the report are available in the House Library.

Southend-on-Sea (Cultural Heritage)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with English Heritage regarding the cultural and architectural heritage of Southend-on-Sea; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: There have been no discussions between the Department and English Heritage regarding the cultural and architectural heritage of Southend-on-Sea.

Ticket Sales

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the merits of introducing legislation to control or limit the sale of tickets for (a) music concerts, (b) music festivals, (c) other sporting events and (d) the theatre by (i) street based and (ii) online ticket touts.

Estelle Morris: None in respect of (a) , (b) or (d) . The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 already prohibits ticket touting at football matches as these raise special public order issues. My right hon. Friend is currently considering what steps she would need to take in respect of ticket touting to meet the requirements of the International Olympics Committee, should we win our bid to host the Olympics in London.

Ticket Sales

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received from the music industry on proposals to introduce legislation to control the sale of tickets for music concerts or festivals (a) by street based ticket touts and (b) on online auction website.

Estelle Morris: None.

Ticket Sales

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what advice her Department gives to people considering buying tickets for music events from individuals offering such tickets on online auction websites.

Estelle Morris: We have not been asked to give advice on this issue. Individuals need to decide whether or not in their view the cost is reasonable and represents value for money.

Ticket Sales

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will meet representatives of the music industry to discuss the operation of the law as it affects the sale of tickets for music events (a) by ticket touts and (b) on online auction websites.

Estelle Morris: I understand that following concerns raised by the promoters of the T in the Park Festival, a broader discussion of music industry stakeholders is planned to agree a common position on ticket re-sales by touts. I will of course be happy to consider holding a meeting with representatives of the industry once this has been agreed.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Departmental Advertising

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skillshow many advertising contracts were signed by her Department in the period (a) 1 September 2004 to 1 March 2005 and (b) 1 September 2003 to 1 March 2004, broken down by (i) television, (ii) radio, (iii) press, (iv) direct mail and (v) other advertising; and what the value was in each case.

Derek Twigg: All advertising undertaken by my Department is contracted through Central Office for Information (COI).
	The information requested is outlined in the following table.
	
		
			  (a) 1 September 2004 to1 March 2005 (b) 1 September 2003 to1 March 2004 
		
		
			 (i) TV 747,781 — 
			 (ii) Radio 994,658 853,921 
			 (iii) Press 1,072,916 2,096,936 
			 (iv) Direct mail — — 
			 (v) Other 575,984 385,441 
		
	
	All financial information is exclusive of VAT.

Departmental Catering

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many departmental (a) canteens and (b) bars there are; and how much has been spent on the (i) running, (ii) staffing and (iii) supply costs of each in each year since 1997.

Derek Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills has a total of five staff restaurants and one bar in its five headquarter buildings. The staff restaurants are operated by catering contractors whilst the bar is run by its members as a private club. The cost of providing these canteen facilities since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 n/a 
			 1998–99 111,766 
			 1999–2000 130,437 
			 2000–01 119,541 
			 2001–02 99,794 
			 2002–03 13,500 
			 2003-04 35,000 
		
	
	n/a = Not available
	A breakdown by (i) running, (ii) staffing, (iii) supply costs of each year could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Disabled Facilities Grant

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what input she has had to the review of the disabled facilities grant;
	(2)  how much her Department contributed towards vital housing adaptations for disabled children in each of the past three years.

Margaret Hodge: DfES is working with ODPM and DH as one of the three government departments undertaking the review of the disabled facilities grant. ODPM is the lead department in the review.
	Information is not collected centrally on contributions towards housing adaptations. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants holds information on expenditure by personal social services. CIPFA makes no distinction between children and adults when collecting information on adaptations which it lists together with information on equipment expenditure.
	Actual expenditure" for 2001–02 and 2002–03 for 'Equipment and Adaptations' was £62,716,000 and £57,063,000 respectively, across 'Physical Disability or Sensory Impairment' and 'Learning Disabilities'. Estimated expenditure" for 2003–04 is £63,924,000. DfES contributes to these funds but exact figures for children and adaptations are indeterminable due to the way information is collected.

Child Care (Easington)

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places there were in the Easington constituency in each of the last three years; and what the occupancy rates were in each year.

Margaret Hodge: The information is not available in the form requested. The available information on child care places and nursery education places is shown in the tables.
	The available information on child care places, for Durham local authority area, is shown in table 1.
	
		Table 1: Number(33)(5507500034) of registered child care places for children under eight years of age by type of care—Durham local education authority area—position at 31 March each year—2003 and 2004
		
			 Type of care 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Full day care 2,300 2,800 
			 Sessional day care 1,400 1,400 
			 Child minders 3,100 3,400 
			 Out of school day care 1,700 1,900 
			 Crèche day care 500 500 
		
	
	(33) Rounded to the nearest 100 places.
	(34) Data Source: Ofsted
	The figures for 2003 and 2004 were derived from the Ofsted database of registered child care providers. There are no figures for 2002.
	Figures for the ratio of enrolments to places were published in the overview report on the 2002/03 Childcare and Early Years Workforce survey", which is available on the sure start website, www.surestart.gov.uk. The figures for full day care, sessional day care (playgroups), out of school clubs and child minders were 1.47, 1.43, 0.97 and 0.87 respectively.
	With the introduction of the National Day Care Standards and the transfer of responsibilities for registration and inspection of childcare providers from Local Authority Social Service Departments to Ofsted in September 2001, child care places were classified according to the type of day care provided: full day care, sessional day care, child minder, out of school day care or crèche day care. Ofsted have produced figures based on this classification on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Their latest figures were published on 19 January 2005 in their report Registered Childcare Providers and Places, 31 December 2004", which is available on their website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications.
	The available information on nursery education places, for Durham local authority area, is shown in tables 2 and 3.
	
		Table 2: Number of free nursery education places(35) taken up three and four-year-olds Durham local education authority area—position in January each year
		
			  2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 3-year-olds
			 Maintained nursery and primary schools(36) 3,800 3,500 3,400 
			 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers (37)940 (37)980 (38)1,000 
			 Total 3-year-olds 4,700 4,500 4,400 
			 
			 4-year-olds
			 Maintained nursery and primary schools(39) 5,200 5,100 4,800 
			 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers (40)300 (41)380 (42)400 
			 Total 4-year-olds 5,500 5,500 5,200 
		
	
	(35) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(36) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(37) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the nursery education grant data collection exercise.
	(38) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(39) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(40) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the nursery education grant data collection exercise.
	(41) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools' Census.
	8 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	
		Table 3: Number of free nursery education places(42) taken up three and four-year-olds by parliamentary constituency—Durham local education authority area—position in January 2004
		
			  3-year-olds 
			 Constituency Maintained nursery and primary schools(43) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers(44) Total 3-year-olds 
		
		
			 Bishop Auckland 580 220 800 
			 City of Durham 460 280 740 
			 Easington 600 110 710 
			 North Durham 560 140 700 
			 North West Durham 670 100 760 
			 Sedgefield(47) 510 180 690 
			 LEA total 3,400 1,000 4,400 
		
	
	
		
			  4-year-olds 
			 Constituency Maintained nursery and primary schools4 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers5 Total 4-year-olds 
		
		
			 Bishop Auckland 840 90 940 
			 City of Durham 750 150 890 
			 Easington 860 50 910 
			 North Durham 790 40 830 
			 North West Durham 860 30 890 
			 Sedgefield(47) 700 50 750 
			 LEA total 4,800 400 5,200 
		
	
	(42) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(43) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(44) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(45) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(46) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(47) Constituency does not include figures from providers within Darlington LEA

Fire Safety (Schools)

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what precautions for fire safety are required in the design of new school buildings; what plans she has for mandatory fire sprinklers; and if she will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Since April 2001, all new building work at schools has been subject to the Building Regulations. With regard to fire safety, the design of new school buildings must comply with Part B of the Regulations.
	The Building Regulations do not require the installation of sprinkler systems in schools, but this does not prohibit local education authorities from specifying their use. Currently the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is carrying out a review of the fire safety aspects of the Building Regulations and its accompanying guidance Approved Document B. The review will include schools and it should be completed early in 2006. The decision on whether or not to install sprinklers in new schools needs to be taken locally. For example, in the Department's Managing School Facilities Guide 6, Fire Safety", we give the example of a school in an area of high arson risk as being a suitable candidate for their installation see www.teachernet.gov.uk/fire. However, we are mindful of the need to provide more detailed advice than before and have produced new draft guidance—Designing and Managing Against the Risk of Fire in Schools". This stresses the value of using risk assessments to determine what sort of fire detection and alarm systems should be used in a new school, and whether or not sprinklers should be installed. This advice will be subject to public consultation, which will commence shortly, and we expect to publish it in the early autumn.

GCSEs

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the quality of the GCSE exam.

Stephen Twigg: The GCSE is an internationally known and respected qualification. The White Paper, 14–19 Education and Skills makes clear that we will preserve and strengthen it in the future.

Revealweb

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support the Department plans to provide for Revealweb: the National Database of Accessible Resources after March 2006.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 28 February 2005
	The Department of Culture Media and Sport, through the Museums Libraries and Archives Council, supported the establishment of Revealweb with a grant of £100,000 per year for three years (2003/04;2004/05;2005/06). It was made clear that funding was to cease after 2005/06 and that it would become the responsibility of the managers of Revealweb, to sustain the project thereafter.
	The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has set up a link between the Reveal website and the DfES special educational needs (SEN) inclusion site. We have also publicised Reveal in our regular SEN update, which is available free on subscription.
	The DfES is not planning to provide any financial support for Revealweb. We are already providing substantial funding—over £600 million—to schools, colleges and universities to improve access to education, including access to the curriculum.

Special Educational Needs

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to publicise the options available to parents who do not believe their child's school is compliant with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001;
	(2)  when the Government plans to review the implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 in schools;
	(3)  what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all schools become compliant with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001;
	(4)  what measures are in place to assess whether the accessibility plans produced by schools under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 are meeting the needs of all disabled children;
	(5)  how many schools are complying with the duty under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 to produce accessibility plans.

Margaret Hodge: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 amended both the Education Act 1996 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. To help schools, local education authorities and others meet their amended special educational needs (SEN) duties under the Education Act 1996 the Department published the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001). To help schools meet their duties under part 4 of the amended Disability Discrimination Act, the Disability Rights Commission produced a Code of Practice in 2002. The Code of Practice explains, and provides guidance on, the duties schools have not to discriminate, without justification, against children for a reason related to their disabilities and to make reasonable adjustments to prevent discrimination. In June 2002 the Department for Education and Skills issued separate guidance to schools on carrying out their duty to draw up and publish plans for improving access to disabled pupils.
	The Department for Education and Skills has made widely available a guide for parents and carers on the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. The Disability Rights Commission provides advice to parents and schools on disability discrimination and runs a dedicated telephone help line. Parents have the right to appeal to the SEN and Disability Tribunal and admissions appeal panels if they think their children have suffered discrimination or if they disagree with the decisions of their local education authority about their child's special educational needs. The Tribunal has made available to parents publications explaining their rights of appeal, how they can make an appeal, and what this entails.
	The Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) consider how well schools are meeting the needs of children with special educational needs as part of their inspections; they consider how schools are complying with their duty to produce accessibility plans and the quality of those plans. OfSTED's recent survey reviewing the implementation of the revised inclusion framework introduced as a result of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, Special Educational Needs and Disability—towards inclusive schools," found that schools had a growing awareness of the benefits of inclusion and that there had been some improvements in practice. It also identified the need for further progress, for example, of the schools surveyed around 50 per cent. had produced a disability access plan. OfSTED recognised that the broad and sustained programme of action under the SEN strategy Removing Barriers to Achievement" (February 2004) is designed to bring about improvements to the provision for children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The programme includes the development of practical resources for schools that should help them to comply fully with their duties under part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Special Educational Needs

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on delivering special needs education in North Yorkshire.

Margaret Hodge: Delivery of special needs education within North Yorkshire is a matter for determination by the local education authority (LEA) within the framework of law and guidance issued by Government. It is an essential function of every LEA to make effective arrangements for special educational needs (SEN) by ensuring that the needs of pupils are identified and assessed quickly and matched by appropriate provision. Under section 315 of the Education Act 1996, LEA arrangements for SEN must be kept under review.
	Monitoring of standards in schools and LEAs including SEN provision, is the responsibility of Ofsted, who undertake regular inspections within a framework agreed between the Secretary of State and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector.

Specialist Schools

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the Specialist Schools grant-in-aid from her Department was spent on developing overseas networks in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Twigg: 1.5 per cent. of the grant-in-aid made available to the Youth Sport Trust in 2004–05 covered opportunities for designated specialist schools to engage in international professional development. None of the grant-in-aid made available to the Specialist Schools Trust is used for this purpose.

Student Loans

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many cases the Student Loans Company has accepted mitigating circumstances when reassessing unreturned annual review forms in each of the last five years; and in how many cases appeals were rejected in each year.

Kim Howells: The Repayment of Teachers' Loans scheme was created in 2002 on a three-year pilot basis. It is administered on my right hon. Friend's behalf by the Student Loans Company in accordance with the Education (Teacher Student Loans) (Repayments etc.) Regulations 2003.
	In 2002/03, a total of 88 appeals against exclusion from the scheme were considered but rejected by the Student Loans Company. In 2003/04, 91 appeals were rejected. The company is unable to provide information on how many rejections involved cases of unreturned annual review forms.

Sure Start

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects of the Sure Start programme in Weymouth and Portland.

Margaret Hodge: The Weymouth and Portland Sure Start local programme was approved in 2002 and supports around 800 children and their families living in Littlemoor, Melcome Regis, Westham and Underhill wards. The programme has been allocated a total of £2,306,719 revenue funding and £1,000,000 capital funding from its inception up to the end of 2005/06.
	The programme delivers a wide range of services to support local families including: occupational therapy, counselling services, health and social services, respite care for parents, individual support for children identified as needing developmental help and training in both parenting skills and basic education.
	Since opening, Sure Start Weymouth and Portland has helped improve the quality of life for local families. All new parents are contacted within the first two months of the birth of their baby by a qualified Sure Start project worker. The percentage of children identified with speech and language development delay has been found to be much higher than the national average (37 per cent. as opposed to the national 20 per cent.) and these children and their parents are now provided with one-to-one help both at home and through support when they attend pre-school. Local schools and parents are beginning to report much better levels of overall development, including speech and language development, when children go on to full time education.
	Local health visitors advise the local programme of all women identified with post natal depression. These women are offered a range of help, depending on their needs, either from local health services or from the Sure Start Local Programme which can include one-to-one support.
	Recent Sure Start Unit monitoring reports show that the programme is in contact with 544 of the 794 children in their area. The programme has strong parental participation both in the management board, which has 10 parent representatives (up from three since 2000); and in activities where parents act as volunteers, including two parents who are involved in local evaluation of the programme with Bournemouth University.

Sure Start

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects of the Sure Start programme in the constituency of Wellingborough.

Margaret Hodge: There is one Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP), one Neighbourhood Nursery (NN) and one children's centre (CC) in it's planning stages in Wellingborough.
	The Wellingborough Sure Start local programme was approved in 2003 and supports around 730 young local children and their families living in the catchment area. It has an indicative allocation of £1,075,000 capital grant, all of which has been approved and has received revenue of £700,000 in 2004/05, and will receive £768,752 in 2005/06 and £768,752 in 2006/07. The catchment area comprises three separate estates which each form part of three wards—Queensway, Croyland (Kingsway) and Hemmingwell. The programme delivers a wide range of services to support local families including:
	continuity of care and midwifery support
	health advice and parenting support for child development and behaviour issues
	joint working at clinics e.g. a parent support group running at a health visitor clinic
	Children's Information Service to provide information about Sure Start area
	Mobile Toy library linking up with existing Parent and Toddler groups
	Playgroup activities, continuous throughout holidays
	Flexible childminders
	Speech and language therapy
	Since opening, Sure Start Wellingborough has helped improve the quality of life for local families. Local health visitors report back to the local programme on all women identified with post natal depression—including specific referral to the Sure Start programme to provide support. The programme funds a HomeStart worker to train and support an increased number of volunteers. There are four support groups currently running weekly where there are quality play activities and support for parents. A new group is starting in 2004/05 specifically for teenage parents. Groups which will run for specific periods of time are: Speakeasy (helping parents to talk about sex appropriately with their children), Parentzone (parenting course), EarlyStart (adult literacy and numeracy with activities with their children).
	Health visitors aim to visit all children within two months of birth and give parents information about Sure Start services. Visit or contact is offered to all parents/carers not seen in the preceding three months. Roadshows" taken round to all three estates on a rolling programme provide information on aspects of parenting and respond to requests from parents for information. This five week programme deals with a theme each week which corresponds to one of the Sure Start objectives . The SSLP health visitor and midwife also provide outreach services.
	As a recently approved round 5 Sure Start Programme, Wellingborough have only recently been required to submit reach data, however recent Sure Start Unit monitoring reports show that the programme is seeing 122 of their 729 children (17 per cent.) each month, and saw 11 per cent. new children in September 2004 as well as visiting 89 per cent. of new babies in the catchment area within the first two months of their lives.
	The programme has recognised the need to broaden parental consultation to all .families. They have employed community development workers to work with parents in setting up the forum and continuing consultation.
	The Croyland Neighbourhood Nursery is the only one in the constituency and opened as a 42 place nursery in March 2004. The nursery was awarded £202,851 revenue funding up until 2007, and also received a one off capital grant of £175,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. It is part of the planned children's centre and based on a school site.
	The children's centre will bring together the SSLP and the NN and also includes a maintained nursery school and a pre school. The centre has an indicative allocation of £80,000 revenue from 2004–06 with a total indicative capital allocation of £350,000. The Croyland Centre will be situated in Croyland Ward and will work closely with the SSLP to provide integrated daycare and education. Centre managers are currently negotiating provision at both sites with the Primary Care Trust and Lifelong Learning. The Sure Start midwife is already working with a community midwife to provide ante-natal care on all three Sure Start estates. Family support will also be available on both sites, with the exact nature of this dependent on the expressed needs of the families. A pre-school in the town will be extended to provide a further 24 daycare places.

Sure Start

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effects of the Sure Start programme in Milton Keynes.

Margaret Hodge: The Milton Keynes Sure Start local programme was approved on 8 August 2001 and supports around 800 children under 4 and their families living in Stony Stratford, Wolverton and Bradwell Abbey. The programme delivers a wide range of services to support local families including: outreach and home visiting; home start; training courses for parents e.g., assertiveness training, book start and a food co-op.; Asian Women's Group; and Urdu help line.
	Since opening, Sure Start Milton Keynes has helped improve the quality of life for local families. For example the programme report that: the percentage of women breastfeeding at birth has risen from 45 per cent. in 2002–03 to 67 per cent. in 2003–04. Recent Sure Start Unit monitoring reports show that the programme saw an average of 42 per cent. of children in the Sure Start area each month between September 2003 and September 2004. The programme visits all new babies in the first two months of life. The programme has strong parental participation; the management board has five parent representatives.
	Furthermore the programme will be designated as a children's centre in March 2006 and will form one of the three children's centres planned for Milton Keynes. The Neighbourhood Children's Centre, Fishermead has been designated and the Water Eaton centre has been given approval to proceed. Milton Keynes received capital allocation of £512,167 and a total of £325,112 revenue to support the delivery of these children's centres for the period 2004–06.

Sure Start

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on Sure Start funding in Morecambe and Lunesdale.

Margaret Hodge: Like many other areas of the country, young children and their families in Morecambe and Lunesdale have benefited from significant Sure Start funding since 2001. There is one Sure Start local programme in Morecambe and Lunesdale (Sure Start North Lancaster). This programme received a revenue grant of £794,303 in 2004–05. It has an indicative revenue allocation of £814,161 for 2005–06 and for 2006–07. The programme has had £960,000 of its £1,000,000 capital allocation approved for specific projects in the area.
	Evidence from local evaluation shows that a six-week breastfeeding peer supporters training programme was put in place for women living in the Sure Start area. five of eight women initially participating completed the course and were presented with a certificate of achievement. A second training programme held in October 2003, with women from a wider geographical area, resulted in 10 women successfully completing the course. The Baby Club started in March 2002 as a means to identifying clients with, or at risk o developing post natal illness. Between 1 January 2002 and 1 August 2004, over 3,000 visits to the Baby Club were made by parents and 3,200 by babies. In 2004 weekly attendance averaged at 18 parents and their babies.
	The programme has also put together a comprehensive volunteer policy and developed an induction and training programme to help volunteers develop their skills and build awareness of community issues such as cultural diversity and child protection. Once basic training is completed (and CRB clearance has been gained) volunteers can move into work experience placements within any area of Sure Start's work. Volunteers have work shadowed midwifery, health and childcare colleagues and others have completed individual community based projects. 13 volunteers have completed the in-house programme, as well as parents on the management and partnership boards. Many have moved on to FE such as Pre-School Diploma and Access to Higher Education, while others have pursued training in job search techniques or employment.
	Lancashire county council has a planned children's centre reach of 16,629 children under the age of five by March 2006. It is developing two children's centres in the Morecambe and Lunesdale area, creating 82 new integrated early education and care places. Sure Start North Lancaster is one of the two children's centres and has been allocated indicative revenue funding of £175,496 for 2005–06. It will deliver 71 integrated early education and care places by March 2006; 41 of which will be new children's centre funded places. The centre will reach children and families in the wards of Skerton East, Skerton Central, Skerton West and part of Bulk. An indicative children's centre capital allocation of £400,000 has been made available to the Ridge Primary School which will link to the North Lancaster children's centre and deliver further outreach services and integrated early education and care as part of the core offer. The centre is expected to be designated by April 2005.
	The other children's centre is being developed in the Poulton ward based on a former Social Services Family Centre site. Lancashire county council have allocated indicative children's centre revenue of £317,134 and indicative children's centre capital of £1,000,000 to this centre which is expected to be designated by March 2006. This centre will create 41 new integrated early education and care children's centre funded places.
	Lancashire county council has also developed two neighbourhood nursery projects in the Morecambe and Lunesdale area delivering a total of 57 new early education and childcare places. Sure Start has made available revenue funding of £284,215 and £23,505 capital grant in total to Lancashire County Council for these two projects.

Sure Start

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effect of the Sure Start programme in Dover.

Margaret Hodge: The Dover Sure Start local programme has been performing very well since it started in September 2000, providing support to around 817 children and their families. It was reviewed in October 2004 where it was evidenced that the programme was well established in the community. It is demonstrating excellent engagement with the children's centres agenda and is currently working towards developing children's centre status for St. Radigunds. It is also contributing to the development of children's centres at The Ark Centre, Tower Hamlets; Buckland; and Sunshine Corner, Aylesham.
	The programme provides services for communities within St. Radigunds, Buckland and parts of Barton and Pineham. It sees all babies within two months of their birth and offers a wide range of services including: Sure Start befrienders; speech and language services; community health visiting; community midwifes; toy and equipment library; community shop; community psychiatric nursing; social worker; Playlink; Homestart; breakfast club; and daycare. The management board is chaired by a parent and there is strong parental involvement in the programme.
	The total amount of Sure Start revenue funding the programme will receive from 2000–06 will be £4,353,948. It has also received £1,288,517 capital grant. The programme has invested £715,000 of this money towards the creation of a multi-purpose building in St. Radigunds.

Sure Start

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effects of the Sure Start programme in Loughborough.

Margaret Hodge: Sure Start Charnwood local programme was approved in April 2003 and provides services to a diverse community. The amount of revenue grant approved for 2003–07 is £2,694,849. The programme also has £1,000,000 capital grant available.
	The Sure Start programme provides services to 679 children and their families in the area. The programme has provided us with the following information about the services that it provides.
	Services include English language classes, crèche, IT classes, home visits and clinics run by health visitors, support for children with special needs, library outreach, child care classes, mother and toddler groups, and activity outings. Support is offered to families in crisis and with ongoing needs through family support workers and through volunteers.
	There are seven parents on the management board and parents take an active role in interviewing and appointing all new staff members. Bookstart plus-provides books for babies at seven months old to encourage parents to read to, and look at books with, babies, 99.7 per cent. of babies received a Bookstart bag during 2003–04.
	Sure Start services will be extended in Loughborough through the two planned children's centres. One will serve the community in the Cobden area; this has already been designated. The other will serve families in the Shelthorpe area. Leicestershire's children's centre allocation for 2004–06 is £203,740 revenue and £368,890 capital.

Sure Start

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on the effects of each Sure Start programme in Rochdale;
	(2)  what research she has conducted on the effects of Sure Start programmes in Rochdale on (a) literacy, (b) speech and language development, (c) levels of breast feeding, (d) smoking cessation and (e) post-natal depression;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of levels of satisfaction of parents in Rochdale with the services provided by Sure Start programmes.

Margaret Hodge: There are three Sure Start local programmes in Rochdale constituency; Castlemere, Deeplish and Newbold approved in 2000; Belfield, Hamer and Waddleworth approved in 2001; and Kirkholt, Turfhill and Wellfield approved in 2003. Between them the three programmes provide services to 2,300 young children living within their respective catchment areas. The programmes deliver a wide range of services to support local families including training in parenting skills, access to health services at the centres and outreach support to children and families in their home.
	The programmes' funding for the current and future years is as follows:
	
		
			 Programme name Capital Revenue 
			  Approved 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 
		
		
			 Castle mere Deplish and Newbold 982,206 769,660 788,902 788,902 
			 Belfield, Hamer and Waddleworth 684,417 753,375 772,209 772,209 
			 Kirkholt, Turfhill and Wellfield 256,760 645,000 661,125 661,125 
		
	
	These programmes are developing into children's centres and will contribute towards achieving our goal of a children's centre in every community by 2010.
	The Department does not conduct research on the impact of individual Sure Start programmes. Instead, a comprehensive national level evaluation system is in place that looks at programmes across the board and will examine the effectiveness of Sure Start for children, families and communities over time.
	Programmes carry out their own local evaluation. The available data from these show that since opening, the Castlemere Deeplish and Newbold and Belfield Hamer and Waddleworth local programmes achieved a 20 per cent. increase in the number of children scoring above average levels in the speech and language measure assessment on children aged 2 years, and a reduction of 6 per cent. in the number of children scoring below the average levels.
	Since these two programmes were approved there has been on average an increase of 60 per cent. in the number of mothers breastfeeding.
	A user satisfaction survey is conducted by each programme after its opening and thereafter on a three-year cycle. Within the Castlemere, Deeplish and Newbold local programme area 95 per cent. of families responded that they were satisfied" or very satisfied" with the programme's services in April 2003. In September 2003 the corresponding survey in the Belfield, Hamer and Waddleworth local programme area showed that 98 per cent. of families were satisfied" or very satisfied". The Kirkholt, Turfhill and Wellfield programme is due to report in September 2005.

Sure Start

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Sure Start centres in each region have parental support and relationship support services.

Margaret Hodge: There are 524 Sure Start local programmes across England.
	All 524 Sure Start local programmes deliver parenting support services to families in their areas. These services range from general advice on parenting skills to more specialised help and support for families in times of crisis. This work includes support to parents undergoing relationship problems and can include respite care. In delivering family support services local programmes work in partnership with a wide range of partners from the mainstream to the voluntary sector.
	We expect all local programmes to develop into children centres to help us meet our target of a children's centre in every community by 2010. All these centres will offer family support services.

Sure Start

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money has been allocated to Sure Start provision in Kettering in each year since it was first introduced; and if she will make a statement on the programme.

Margaret Hodge: Kettering has one Sure Start local programme (SSLP), one Neighbourhood Nursery (NN) and one planned children's centre (CC) receiving funding from the Sure Start Unit. Money has been allocated as indicated in the following table.
	
		£
		
			  2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 
		
		
			 SSLP Revenue 358,501 525,500 750,002 768,752 768,752 
			 Capital 1,000,000 — 
			 NN Revenue — 30,075 108,271 60,150 18,045 
			 CC Revenue — — (48)40,000 (48)40,000 (49)— 
			 Capital — — (48)135,000 — — 
		
	
	(48) Indicative.
	(49) Not yet allocated.
	Sure Start 4 Wards", the Sure Start local programme which supports families and young children across Kettering, was approved in September 2002. The programme works closely with a number of providers to improve support for young children and their families, delivering a variety of services including: reading groups; parent support; fathers' group; parenting skills; baby massage; breastfeeding support; and outreach services through Citizen's Advice Bureau.
	The Sure Start programme undertook a local evaluation of their services in 2003/04 and as part of this they recruited and trained eight parents to take a questionnaire out to a range of local toddler groups. The survey also included the opportunity for parents to feedback their suggestions for improvements. 75 per cent. of respondents said the quality of the Sure Start services they received was very good" and that their child had done new things as a result of involvement with the programme.
	The programme has invested £938,000 of their capital grant in a new building which will provide a family centre, 26 full day care places and accommodation for up to 20 multi-disciplinary workers under one roof.
	The Grange Neighbourhood Nursery opened in January 2004 and provides 62 full daycare places, 54 of which are funded through Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative. This nursery is based on a school site which also incorporates a Healthy Living Centre and a community sports and arts facility.
	A children's centre is planned for the Grange school which is approximately half a mile from the Sure Start local programme building. Both sites will provide integrated full daycare places and early learning in due course and an additional 24 places will be created by extending another setting. The children's centre will build on the existing provision already available in Kettering.

Sure Start

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects of the Sure Start programme in Inner Burton in East Staffordshire.

Margaret Hodge: Sure Start Inner Burton was established in 2001. 687 families with a total of 717 children are currently registered with the programme. It has received a capital allocation of £1 million and a revenue allocation of £746,000 in 2003–04 and £764,650 in 2004–05. We have just written to the programme announcing its future revenue allocations of £783,766 in 2005–06 and the same amount in 2006–07.
	The programme has achieved a number of successes, including raising the proportion of mothers with children breastfeeding from 40 per cent. in 2002–03 to 50 per cent. in 2003–04. In 2002–03 the programme made 21,000 face to face contacts with children and families.
	East Staffordshire children's centre is located in the north of the programme's area and provides integrated education and day care on a full day, part day, or casual crèche basis, combined with health, family support and a range of services including JobCentre Plus drop-in sessions and Children's Information Service signposting. Other services and facilities planned or provided include a toy library, training room and access to computer facilities for parents.
	Families in the programme's area will also have access to outreach services provided at Queen Street Community Centre, to be opened in March 2005, which will consist of a child minder support group, volunteer training, speech and language therapy sessions, ante-natal activities, English as a second language classes, a Saturday group and evening dads' group.

Sure Start

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the number of families who have participated in the Sure Start programme in Hartlepool since the programme began;
	(2)  what plans she has to roll out the Sure Start programme to cover all of Hartlepool;
	(3)  what estimate she has made of the effects of Sure Start on the educational attainment of children in Hartlepool since the programme began.

Margaret Hodge: There are three Sure Start local programmes in Hartlepool, which are all at different stages of development. Sure Start South is a round two programme and began to develop its services from 2000. It has received £2,972,982 revenue and £1 million capital grant to date. Sure Start North is round three and services began to be delivered in 2000. It has received £2,349,675 revenue and £1 million capital grant to date. Sure Start Central began to deliver services in 2003. It has received £1,425,000 revenue and £l million capital grant to date.
	The three programmes have provided services to approximately 2,673 families since they began to deliver services. This is broken down as follows: Sure Start South 533; Sure Start North 1,014; and Sure Start Central 1,136.
	There are seven neighbourhood nurseries in Hartlepool providing a total of 291 places. Two of these are linked to the local programmes (Sure Start Central and Sure Start South). The total funding for these nurseries is £1,143,201 capital and £938,063 revenue. There were a total of 1,050 three-year-olds in free nursery education places across Hartlepool in 2004. The figure for four-year-olds was 1,100.
	Each of the local programmes has implemented a number of initiatives within their respective catchment areas to help improve children's ability to learn.
	Such initiatives include:
	Bookstart Plus project has been developed in conjunction with Hartlepool libraries. The initiative provides a free book for all children living in the Sure Start area when they are 12-months-old and library membership.
	Chattersacks scheme in local primary schools nurseries aimed to encourage families to be involved in children's learning, language development and early reading skills.
	Delivery of full day care and regular playgroup sessions using Birth to Three Matters and the Foundation Stage framework, to ensure that all children are offered a well structured routine that will enhance their all round development.
	Various play sessions/groups to promote speech and language development, in particular all children in the Sure Start area are involved in the speech and language measure and implemented as part of the Sure Start Pathway of care.
	The impact of these services are demonstrated by the following.
	Library membership of children aged 0–3 in Sure Start South catchment area has increased from a baseline 5 per cent. in 2000/01 to 12.7 per cent. in 2003/04.
	Language development—the Sure Start South programme also reports that there has been a small increase in local word count scores (56 to 59) which are higher than national figures from Sure Start Unit (46 to 47). The proportion of children with higher word count scores has also increased slightly and there are no parental concerns about language.
	Sure Start Central has linked closely with all schools in the programme's catchment area and operates a joint health, social and education methodology. Each school has a COOL project offering sporting and educational opportunities for the 5–11 age range and they see 80+ children per session in the areas.
	Sure Start will be expanded in Hartlepool through the roll out of children's centres. There is already one designated children's centre based on the site of Rossmere primary school, St. Teresa's RC primary school and Sure Start Hartlepool South. Four more children's centres will be designated by March 2006. Both the central and north programmes will be included in this.
	Hartlepool local authority is planning to open a further five children's centres by March 2008 with a town wide approach to create a children's centre in every community by 2010.

Sure Start

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects of the Sure Start programme in Fleetwood.

Margaret Hodge: The Sure Start Fleetwood local programme was approved in 2001 and supports around 667 children and their families living in the Pharos and Mount wards, part of Bailey ward and Park ward. The programme has been allocated a total of £2,721,463 revenue funding and £1,000,000 capital funding from its inception up to the end of 2005/06.
	The programme delivers a wide range of child, family health and parental support services to local families. As Fleetwood has one of the highest incidences of teenage pregnancy in England, the programme offers a well attended weekly Young Parents group to support and advise teenage mothers and fathers. The programme has also been successful at encouraging mothers to breast feed their babies. Six out of eight mothers attending the Baby Group now breast feed compared with two out of eight last year. Five mothers are also undertaking a twelve week accredited training course run by the Breast Feeding Network, which will be followed by a breast feeding home visiting support service to help mothers continue breast feeding.
	The Start Now! Project run by programme brings together a number of organisations (Jobcentre Plus, Wyre Primary Care Trust, Connexions, Blackpool and the Fyde College, NHS recruitment, Wyre borough council) who offer co-ordinated advice and support for parents wishing to move into employment and training. These agencies have found that this group has enabled then to reach parents who would otherwise not use their main service. This one stop shop approach allows parents with complex needs to receive a joined up collaborative service and has been very successful in encouraging parents into training and employment.
	The local new deal for lone parent advisors are working full time from the Sure Start main centre which has to be proved mutually beneficial with the NDLP advisors reporting an improved uptake of their services. In the last three months, six parents have moved into training and 24 parents have moved off income support into employment. This is a significant increase compared to the previous five month period where only ten parents had been placed into employment.
	The Sure Start Fleetwood local programme has a high level of parental involvement and participation. Parents are taking an active role within the programme with 11 of the 18 volunteers being local parents who initially used Sure Start services. The Partnership Board also includes seven parent representatives, one of which is the Vice Chair of the Board.
	Fleetwood has one neighbourhood nursery called Y tots which is attached to the Sure Start Fleetwood local programme. The nursery has received a total of £302,400 in revenue funding and provides 56 full day care places. Both the Sure Start local programme and the neighbourhood nursery are located within one building and form Fleetwood children's centre. All the core services will be delivered from the centre and to a further three wards on an outreach basis in community buildings and a primary school. The implementation plan for the centre received approval to proceed from the Unit in July 2004.
	In addition, there were 800 free nursery education places taken up by 3-year-olds in maintained schools and other maintained private, voluntary and independent providers within the Blackpool, North and Fleetwood parliamentary constituency area in 2004. The equivalent figure for 4-year-olds was 860.

Sure Start

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many awards of the Sure Start strengthening families grant were made in each region in each of the last three years.

Margaret Hodge: No such awards have been made in the last three years as this is a new grant programme. Proposals for funding from this programme are currently being assessed and successful applicants will be announced shortly.

Sure Start

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects of the Sure Start programme in Birmingham, South West.

Margaret Hodge: The Birmingham, South West Sure Start local programme was approved in February 2003 and supports 867 children under four and their families living in the Bartley Green Ward and Welsh House Farm Housing Estate in Birmingham. To date the programme has had access to £1,402,122 in revenue funding and £960,000 in capital funding. A further £1,112,400 in revenue funding over the next two years (2005/06—2006/07) has been allocated.
	The programme has helped improve the quality of life for local families through the delivery of a wide range of services including: the development of a Teenage Pregnancy/Parent Group to support pregnant teenagers and young mums under 21; the provision of a Child Psychologist and Speech and Language Therapist; the availability of nutrition and dietetics services; access to the Relate Counselling Service and Money Advice Service for families; working with the charity KIDS in the West Midlands to provide support to children with additional needs/disabilities; working in partnership with Barnardos' Community Plus Project" to provide family support and advice; outreach workers who provide flexible one to one support and advice for parents; group sessions for parents on parenting; provision of safety equipment for families and advice on home safety formulated with the West Midlands Fire Service; and links with Fircroft College enabling parents to access training courses. Several parents are undertaking South Birmingham PCT's short course Introduction to Community Family Work' which leads on to the OCN Certificate in Family Work.
	The development of a children's centre on the programme's Doddington Grove site will extend Sure Start services to children under five and their families. The new children's centre will act as a base for high quality child care integrated with early learning as well as deliver other services like health, family support and advice and training to help parents take up work opportunities. Designation is expected later this year.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to ensure that 50 per cent. of children reach a good level of development at the end of the Foundation Stage will be met by 2008;
	(2)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to improve children's communication, social and emotional development.

Margaret Hodge: The target for 50 per cent. of children to reach a good level of development was set in July 2004. It is based on the 2003 foundation stage profile (FSP) results and data from Sure Start local programmes. It is provisional as the 2003 FSP data were published as 'experimental statistics'. FSP data for 2004 will be published on 17 March, and for 2005 later this year. At this point we will be able to confirm the target and establish the baseline against which progress towards the target can be assessed.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training by two percentage points by 2010 will be met.

Margaret Hodge: We set this target to be challenging, but achievable. The Social Exclusion Unit's 1999 Bridging the Gap" report identified three important elements in reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training: an improved curriculum offer, appropriate financial support and high quality advice guidance and support focused on the needs of young people.
	The strategies set out in the recent 14–19 Education and Skills White Paper, alongside the earlier Supporting Young People to Achieve" and Every Child Matters" publications, build on the good practice and progress that has been made since Bridging the Gap. This includes the success that Connexions has had in achieving its own target to reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training between 2002 and 2004. They will make sure we give the right tools and support to the statutory and voluntary services that work to prevent young people becoming disengaged and reengage them if necessary, giving a sound basis for meeting the target.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the public service agreement target for the level of education, training and employment outcomes of care leavers aged 19 to be at least 75 per cent. of those achieved by all young people in the same area by 2004 was met.

Margaret Hodge: The Department publishes progress against all its outstanding PSA targets in its annual departmental report and autumn performance report. Progress against our last spending review targets, including the one referred to in this question, was reported most recently in the 2004 autumn report, published last November, together with commentary where appropriate. A copy of the report is available from the House of Commons Library.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of progress towards the public service agreement target to narrow the gap between the proportions of children in care and their peers who are cautioned or convicted.

Margaret Hodge: The Department publishes progress against all its outstanding PSA targets in its annual departmental report and autumn performance report. Progress against our SR02 targets, including the one you refer to, was reported most recently in the 2004 autumn report, published in November, together with commentary where appropriate. Copies of the reports are available from the House of Commons Library.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce the under-18 conception rate by 50 per cent. by 2010 will be met.

Margaret Hodge: Since 1998—the baseline year for the strategy—the England under-18 conception rate has fallen by 9.8 per cent. The 2010 PSA target is very challenging and achieving it will require sustained and strengthened implementation of the strategy at national and local level, involving a wide range of services, professionals, parents and young people. That is why we have written to local authority chief executives, asking them to strengthen delivery of local strategies in high rate neighbourhoods and on teenagers most at risk—50 per cent. of conceptions occur in the 20 per cent. of wards with the highest rates. Local areas have been given new data and analysis to help them to effectively target local strategies.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to increase the stock of Ofsted-registered childcare by 10 per cent. by 2008 will be met.

Margaret Hodge: In order to monitor performance against this public service agreement target, the number of childcare places registered by Ofsted is monitored quarterly. The latest quarterly data ending December 2004 shows we have created over 64,000 registered childcare places since March 2004. We are therefore well on track to meet the target of increasing number by 10 per cent. by April 2008.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to increase the take-up of formal childcare by lower income working families by 50 per cent. by 2008 will be met.

Margaret Hodge: My Department made an initial assessment in July 2004, when the public service agreement targets for April 2005 to March 2008 were set. This was based on evidence from the Department for Work and Pension's family resources survey. The target level of 50 per cent. will be confirmed once baseline data is confirmed in spring 2006.

PSA Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to introduce a successful light-touch childcare approval scheme by April 2005 will be met.

Margaret Hodge: The childcare approval scheme (CAS) was launched on 8 December 2004 and from 4 January 2005 carers have been able to apply for approval using application forms downloaded from the dedicated website or obtained via the CAS helpline. CAS has successfully met every milestone during implementation and will be fully operational from the target date of 6 April 2005. Any applications processed prior to 6 April 2005 will be valid from this date.
	The first applicant to be approved was notified on 22 February 2005.

Teacher Salaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average salary for a secondary school teacher is in (a) England and (b) the Romford and Havering constituencies.

Stephen Twigg: In March 2003 the average salary for full time teachers in maintained secondary schools in England was £31,340. Salary information is not available at constituency level, however for Havering local education authority the figure was £34,560. This information is for all grades and includes all allowances.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

China (Arms Embargo)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he held with Ministers in EU member states about the lifting of the arms embargo with China; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 7 March 2005
	The Government supported the decision of the European Council in December 2003 to review the EU Arms Embargo on China.
	Member states discussed the embargo at the European Council in December 2004 and invited the Luxembourg Presidency to take forward work on the review. The Council underlined that
	the result of any decision should not be an increase of arms exports from EU Member States to China, neither in quantitative nor in qualitative terms".
	EU leaders also recalled the importance of the criteria of the Code of Conduct on arms exports, in particular criteria regarding human rights, stability and security in the region and the national security of friendly and allied countries. Subject to satisfaction on these issues as laid out in the conclusions of the European Council, the Government could envisage embargo lift.
	Until the review process is complete, the Government continue to implement the Arms Embargo as set out by the then Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the late Derek Fatchett, in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker) on 3 June 1998, Official Report, columns 240–41.

China (Arms Embargo)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Government held with representatives of the aerospace industry before the agreement by the EU to lift the arms embargo on China, with particular reference to the impact of the lifting of the embargo on the potential of the industry to do business with companies in the United States; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 7 March 2005
	Government officials have informed representatives of the UK aerospace and defence industry of the EU's review of its arms embargo on China and of US attitudes towards this review. Officials informed industry of the resolution of the House of Representatives of 1 February on this arms embargo, and discussed with them the possible meaning of references to limitations and constraints" to transatlantic defence co-operation as mentioned in that resolution.
	The US has a legitimate and understandable interest both in the effectiveness of the EU's system of arms control and in the stability of the East Asian region. We have to do our very best to address US concerns and reassure them on the effectiveness of the EU Code of Conduct. The latter, and not the embargo, is the key to controlling EU arms exports to China.

Egypt

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with President Mubarak on human rights in Egypt, with particular reference to the imprisonment of Ayman Nur.

Chris Mullin: We have regular discussions with Egypt on a wide range of issues, including human rights. Where there is evidence of human rights abuse we make representations to the Egyptian authorities.
	The United Kingdom, together with other European Union partners, raised the case of Ayman Nour with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 15 February 2005. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister on 28 February 2005. We recognise that Egypt regards Mr. Nour's arrest and subsequent detention as an internal matter. However, as well as our concerns about human rights, this case raises broader issues about Egypt's commitment to political reform.

Egypt

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Government of Egypt concerning the arrest of Dr. Ayman Nour MP.

Bill Rammell: The UK, together with other EU partners, raised the arrest of Ayman Nour with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 15 February. While we are aware that Egypt regards Mr. Nour's arrest and detention as an internal matter, we are concerned that the circumstances of his arrest and detention risk sending negative signals about Egypt's commitment to political reform, especially in election year. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also discussed the issue with the Egyptian Foreign Minister on 28 February.

European Constitution

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Welsh translation of the European Constitution will be published.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 7 March 2005
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has agreed to translate the EU Constitutional Treaty into Welsh on a without prejudice" basis. No decision has yet been made on the date of publication.

Honours

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the awarding of an honorary knighthood to the American former head of IBM.

Jack Straw: Mr. Louis Gerstner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, and an American citizen, was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in September 2001. He received the award in recognition of his services and commitment to e-commerce and education in the United Kingdom.

Iraq

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many women were elected to the Iraqi National Assembly; which political parties or ethnic groups they represent; how many women have been appointed to posts in the Iraqi Government; and which posts they occupy.

Chris Mullin: holding answer 4 March 2005
	Figures obtained so far from the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq indicate that at least 86 women were elected to Iraq's Transitional National Assembly (TNA). This represents 31 per cent. of the total TNA seats and falls within the requirements of the Transitional Administrative Law, which calls for at least 25 per cent. representation of women in the TNA. The elected women include Shia Arabs, Sunni Arabs, Sunni Turcomans, Christians (including Assyrian), Sunni Kurds and Shia (Fayli) Kurds.
	The TNA is in the process of forming the Iraqi Transitional Government and has not yet announced ministerial appointments.

Iraq

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many women have been elected to local government in Iraq; and what percentage of total elected representatives this represents.

Chris Mullin: holding answer 4 March 2005
	The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has not yet announced final figures of how many women elected to provincial councils in Iraq. However, results obtained so far show that women elected in the southern provinces include Basra (13), Dhi Qar (8), Maysan (10) and Muthanna (10), a total of 41 women equating to around 30 Per cent. In Kirkuk, around 25 per cent. of those elected are women.

Israel

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli Government concerning the withdrawal of forces from Jericho.

Bill Rammell: We have not made specific representations to the Israeli Government concerning the withdrawal of forces from Jericho. We welcome the announcement following the Sharm el Sheikh summit on 8 February that Israel will transfer control of a number of West Bank cities to Palestinian Authority control. We call upon both sides to continue to make progress on commitments made at Sharm el Sheikh.

Lebanon

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the US Administration concerning the assassination of Rafik Hariri.

Bill Rammell: Although my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed the death of Mr. Hariri directly with the US Secretary of State, our Embassy in Washington, and officials in London, have had high level contact with the US Administration on the issue. My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean visited Lebanon on 24–25 February, and inter alia, met members of Mr. Hariri's family to express the condolences of the United Kingdom. We will continue to work closely with the US Administration and others as the UN investigation into Mr. Hariri's assassination progresses.

Lebanon

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the (a) Israeli, (b) Syrian and (c) Lebanese Government regarding the assassination of Rafik Hariri.

Bill Rammell: Our embassies in Tel Aviv, Damascus and Beirut have been in contact with their host Governments on this issue. My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean raised our concerns about the death of Mr. Hariri with Lebanese Foreign Minister Hammoud during her visit to Lebanon on 24–25 February. She also met members of Mr. Hariri's family to express the condolences of the United Kingdom.

North Korea

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on North Korea.

Bill Rammell: Her Majesty's Government is deeply concerned by the announcement that North Korea has suspended its participation in 6 Party Talks (6PT). The world is looking for early progress in the discussions. We deplore North Korea's refusal to negotiate on the issue, the resolution of which would bring so much benefit to the people of that country. We call on the government of North Korea to review its decision, to reconfirm its commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and to re-engage in discussions with the other participants of the 6PT process to achieve their objective peacefully through negotiation. We also continue to be gravely concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea and raise this regularly with the North Korean authorities at Ministerial and official level.

Official Secrets Act

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants were suspended or sacked from employment by his Department under suspicion of breaching the Official Secrets Act 1989 in each year since 2001.

Chris Mullin: holding answer 7 March 2005
	None.

Palestinian Authority

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many women have been appointed to posts within the Palestinian Authority; and what their responsibilities are.

Chris Mullin: holding answer 4 March 2005
	There are two women in the new Palestinian Authority cabinet, which was announced on 24 February. Zahira Kamal is Minister for Women's Affairs, and held the same position in the previous cabinet. Hind Khoury is a newly-appointed Minister without portfolio.

Public Services Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce people trafficking affecting the UK;
	(2)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to promote security and good governance of the UK's overseas territories;
	(3)  what recent assessment he has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to improve value for money across the full range of FCO, BBC World Service and British Council activities by achieving year-on-year efficiency gains of 2.5 per cent. will be met;
	(4)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to improve perceptions of the UK;
	(5)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase the UK's influence overseas;
	(6)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to progress the UK policy priorities in the EU, including economic liberalisation and Common Agricultural Policy reform;
	(7)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to develop a modern and reformed EU;
	(8)  what recent assessment he has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to (a) secure agreement to a significant reduction in trade barriers and (b) improve trading opportunities for the UK and developing countries by 2005 will be met;
	(9)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to deliver increased prosperity and a better quality of life in the UK and worldwide through effective economic and political governance globally;
	(10)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to enhance the competitiveness of companies in the UK through overseas sales and investments;
	(11)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to demonstrate a reduction in the number of people whose lives are affected by violent conflict;
	(12)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce the potential sources for future conflict;
	(13)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to develop enhanced European defence capabilities'
	(14)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to develop an effective EU crisis management capacity;
	(15)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to construct an enlarged and modernised NATO;
	(16)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce the risk of nuclear confrontation;
	(17)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce tension in the Balkans;
	(18)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce tension in the Middle East;
	(19)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce tension in South Asia;
	(20)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to regulate effectively entry to, and settlement in, the UK in the interests of sustainable growth and social inclusion;
	(21)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to provide effective and efficient consular and entry clearance services;
	(22)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to enhance the security of UK and global energy supplies;
	(23)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to deliver effective programmes to promote democracy, good governance and human rights;
	(24)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to promote sustainable development;
	(25)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to promote peaceful political, economic and social reform in Islamic countries and communities;
	(26)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase understanding and engagement with Islamic countries and communities;
	(27)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to maintain the UK as the prime location in the EU for foreign direct investment;
	(28)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to deliver a measurable improvement in the business performance of UK Trade and Investment's international trade customers by 2008;
	(29)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to play a leading role in the development of the European Security Agenda;
	(30)  what recent assessment he has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to deliver improved effectiveness of UK and international support for conflict prevention by addressing long-term structural causes of conflict, managing regional and national tension and violence, and supporting post-conflict reconstruction, where the UK can make a significant contribution, in particular Africa, Asia, Balkans and the Middle East, by 2008 will be met;
	(31)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to contribute to an international system based on the rule of law, which is better able to resolve disputes and prevent conflicts;
	(32)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to protect the UK from international crime;
	(33)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce international crime affecting the UK;
	(34)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to contribute to the reduction of opium production in Afghanistan, with poppy cultivation reduced by 70 per cent. within five years and elimination within 10 years;
	(35)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce drug trafficking affecting the UK;
	(36)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to protect the UK from drug trafficking;
	(37)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to protect the UK from illegal immigration;
	(38)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce the risk from international terrorism;
	(39)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to reduce the supply of, and demand for, weapons of mass destruction worldwide.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) publishes an assessment of progress towards its Public Service Agreement targets twice a year. The most recently published assessment can be found in the Department's Autumn Performance Report 2004 available on the FCO website: www.fco.gov.uk, copies of which are also available in the Library of the House. The next assessment of progress will be contained in the FCO's Departmental Report which we expect to publish by the end of April 2005. This will also be made available in the Library of the House and on the FCO website.

Student Visas

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many student visa applications there were in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004 from (i) China, (ii) India, (iii) Pakistan and (iv) Bangladesh; and how many of each were refused.

Chris Mullin: The information on student visa applications, which were received and refused for the specified areas during the stated periods, is as follows:
	
		Student visa applications
		
			  April 2001 to March 2002 April 2002 to March 2003 April 2003 to March 2004 
			  Received Refused Received Refused Received Refused 
		
		
			 China 29,338 7,986 34,477 9,095 35,508 11,554 
			 India 10,813 2,683 20,569 7,952 26,552 11,333 
			 Pakistan 7,366 3,137 7,232 1,655 22,686 9,454 
			 Bangladesh 2,682 1,289 5,035 2,447 5,334 3,155 
		
	
	Figures for April 2004-March 2005 are not yet available. When they are, they can be found, along with further entry clearance statistics, on the UKvisas website at www.ukvisas.gov.uk —Entry Clearance: Facts and Figures".

Student Visas

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what UKvisas' (a) policy is and (b) guidelines are in relation to student visa applications from China; what plans his Department has to extend the policy to applications from other countries; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: All applications for entry to the UK as students are considered under the immigration rules. The requirements for entry are therefore the same, irrespective of where the application is made. Local conditions, including the prevalence of forged documentation, mean that different procedures may apply in respect of the application process. However, differences in local processes serve only to facilitate the consideration of the application in accordance with the immigration rules.

Student Visas

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the expected total cost of the student visa scheme was in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004; and what the estimated amount of revenue expected to be accrued from the new student visa charges is for 2005.

Chris Mullin: The overseas entry clearance operation is required to function on a full cost recovery basis and is therefore non-profitable. The student visa fee is calculated to ensure that it covers the cost of the work involved in processing the application. The charge for a student visa application is currently £36 irrespective of factors such as the duration of the course, where the student applied for entry clearance overseas or where they intend to study in the UK. The fee was last raised in 2002 and the level of visa fees is currently under review.
	As UKvisas operates on a cost recovery rather than a profit basis, there is no estimate for revenue accrued for 2005.

Student Visas

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for student visas there were in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004 from overseas students intending to study at (i) universities and (ii) other institutions.

Chris Mullin: The number of applications for student visas from overseas students intending to study in the UK, over the last three financial years, is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001–02 151,524 
			 2002–03 181,905 
			 2003–04 225,239 
		
	
	UKvisas does not break these figures down to the type of educational establishment where the applicant wishes to pursue a course of study.

Student Visas

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of whether UKvisas' guidelines for the issuing of student visas are in line with those set out in British Council guidance; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: UKvisas' guidance leaflets for all categories of visa applicant are based on the immigration rules and the most up to date student leaflet is available on UKvisas' website, www.ukvisas.gov.uk.
	The relevant British Council guidance is entitled First Steps" and is based on the information provided in the UKvisas student information leaflet and the students paragraph of the immigration rules. It includes detailed guidance and information on student related rather than immigration related matters.

Student Visas

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the most common grounds for the refusal of student visa applications were in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004.

Chris Mullin: UKvisas holds statistics on the numbers of refusals of student visa applications at entry clearance posts worldwide, as each refusal relates to paragraph 57 of the immigration rules. The recording of refusal data is not further subdivided into reasons for refusal.
	An application by a student will be refused if they have failed to meet the requirements of the immigration rules for a person seeking to enter the UK for studies. Among the common reasons for the refusal of an application is the failure of the applicant to show an intention or an ability to undertake a proposed course of study. In addition, students who fall for refusal will often have failed to show that they can meet the cost of the proposed course or that they can be adequately maintained and accommodated in the UK without recourse to public funds.

Swaziland

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK has taken to promote democratic governance in Swaziland.

Chris Mullin: The UK Government have worked with the Government of Swaziland over many years to promote democracy and good governance. Since March 2003, as acting local Presidency of the EU, our High Commissioner in Mbabane has also engaged in a formal political dialogue with the Government of Swaziland, as mandated by Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement. Meetings are held three times a year with senior members of the Swazi Government to encourage further efforts to implement democratic reforms, to promote adherence to UN human rights accords, to restore the rule of law and to move the constitutional process forward. I discussed progress in the constitution and rule of law with the Prime Minister of Swaziland on 3 February during his visit to the UK.
	The Government have also provided practical assistance in areas such as capacity building for NGOs, supporting a civic education programme on the draft constitution, and support for new women MP's in the Swazi National Assembly at the start of their tenure.

Uganda

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the transparency of the process towards multi-party democracy in Uganda.

Chris Mullin: A fair multi-party system needs to be established sufficiently in advance of the 2006 elections. We are concerned by delays in implementing the government's roadmap on transition published last July, and the short time remaining to debate such a wide-ranging and complicated Constitutional Amendment Bill. We have urged the Government of Uganda to ensure that the process is constitutional, respects press freedom, the rule of law and institutions of governance, and is free from physical intimidation or manipulation.

Uganda

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the ability of the Ugandan Forum for Democratic Change to operate freely.

Chris Mullin: Early activities of the Forum for Democratic Change suffered some physical restrictions and violence, although there have not been recent recurrences. We have stressed to the Ugandan government that registered parties must be allowed to operate freely at district level in accordance with the law and have received assurances that they will be.

Zimbabwe

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the registration of voters in the advance of Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of Zimbabwe's adherence to the South African Development Community protocols for free and fair elections.

Chris Mullin: We will make a full assessment of the conduct of the election once they have taken place taking into account our own observations as well as those of the various election observer missions.
	However, we are not convinced that Zimbabwe has taken the steps required to ensure a free and fair election. As I said in the House on 1 March, we are concerned about reports of serious irregularities in the electoral roll. We continue to urge the Government of Zimbabwe to honour in full its commitment to the South African Development Community (SADC) electoral principles. We also urge the SADC to ensure that its guidelines are adhered to. The elections in Zimbabwe will be a test of the credibility of the SADC as well as of the Zimbabwean Government.